Inlander 03/09/2023

PAGE 16

To better understand the Inland Northwest, we measured it against other metro areas

INSIDE

I SAW YOU GREEN ZONE BULLETIN

EDITOR’S NOTE

Adecade ago, I briefly worked at Auntie’s Bookstore. It was a great job, talking about books all day, and one morning an older woman came to my register, books in hand. I rang her up, and she handed me her credit card. It read “See ID” on the back, so I asked to see it. She began apologizing, saying she only had a photocopy of her driver’s license, since she refused to bring such an important document downtown. Because it was too dangerous. She worried she’d get mugged. I laughed to myself, but it reminded me of when I moved to Spokane. More than one person told me not to live in Browne’s Addition, or in the Perry District (this was before its transformation). Too dangerous. To this day, I wonder what people think of Spokane. Is it a magnet for people fleeing cities, or repulsive because of its crime? When I hear “Spokane Doesn’t Suck,” I think, “Does Spokane suck?” When I hear Spokane is better than Seattle or California, I look at the traffic on the interstate and the river-spanning bridges. To this day, I struggle to describe my home to people who’ve never been here. Well, this week’s cover section — RANKING SPOKANE — should help on that front. By comparing our metro area to similar ones around the country, I hope we all can get a better idea of the place we call home.

— NICHOLAS DESHAIS, editor

MYTHICAL

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WHAT DOES SPOKANE HAVE THAT NO OTHER CITY HAS?

JOSEPHINE BOONE

Right now I’m organizing a Black Leaders of Spokane event. There’s different things you can do in Spokane that you wouldn’t really be able to accomplish if it was a bigger city. I just feel that for myself personally with what I’m doing that it’s a bit easier for me to do this because of the close communities we have in Spokane.

ANNIKA GOFF

A lot of greenery. A lot, a lot of trees. That, and a lot of library resources.

What does Spokane do best and what does it struggle with?

I think it struggles mostly with handling the homeless population. And I think it really flourishes in trying to help each other out within the community.

ZACH BREESE

In the more mountain-y areas and the darker spots of Spokane, it has a very clear view of the sky, which I only got in my hometown in Cali fornia. And that’s my favorite thing, is I missed the midnight sky and most cities have too much light, but Spokane doesn’t have as much light, so I like looking at the sky more often.

MARISA FOX

Here, I’ve had the easiest time finding the little pockets of nature. The ones that I do find it’s very spacious, very alone… you’ve got a good amount of city, but then you’ve got all the nature as well to get lost in.

AMBROSE YOUNG

Can I be honest? A lot of homelessness and poverty that there shouldn’t be in a metropolitan area.

What do you find beautiful about this city? The countryside is beautiful, certain parts… We have some good people.

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Reading the Signs

On this fractured landscape, one wayfarer’s welcome is another’s warning

oyote lay as if the bullet stopped her midbound. Front paws reaching, head up, back legs bunched — springs that could uncoil at any moment and propel her forward. Her pink tongue hung between teeth white as the peaks around us. I saw her first at a distance and knew. This is Forest Service land, but there is a grazing permit. Whenever we have visited, we have always seen cows and their entrapments, cows and what an abundance of them has done to the land. We’ve walked the trails they made, trails that lead through rocks holding art painted centuries before cattle were brought here, before

Coyote lay in winter-brown grass at the intersection of two roads, the one we entered and would leave on and the one that drove the cattle farther downstream. The road we are on leads

to a popular trailhead, a well-used campground, the petroglyphs. It is the silent season, but in two months the body of coyote will greet families and recreationists upon their arrival. But today, we are the only guests that pass by her. My partner slows the truck as I place a hand to my window and stroke her soft muzzle with my eyes. Across the road, on the other side of us, a white farmhouse with curtained windows. I trace the ghost of the bullet from the empty front porch, across a small lawn, over a white fence, then the road, and into her body. To the left of the house, a black dog tussles with a deer leg.

For the rest of the day, we walk the hilly meadow that was a Nimiipuu winter camp. The eldest of our two dogs, our prairie-colored dog, whose sight and hearing are diminished with age, runs with beautiful abandon.

“Don’t let her get too close to the house,” my partner says. For the rest of the day we keep a hill between us and the shuttered eyes of the ranch house and the yells and yips of people on horseback as they drive a black line of cows downstream. I think of my years moving heifers, the necessary work of it, the quiet way we and our neighbors took to it. I recall the prairie dogs shot to keep cow legs unbroken and the way my father had us bury each one. I don’t know why coyote was shot, or left where she was, like a warning. But to whom?

On the drive here, the purpose of the signs was more obvious. These in a town with a Native history as well. A town placed where salmon return and treaty rights remain. A town known for harassment, even hate. I recall a winter drive a few years ago, a gas station lobby where I stood inside telling the sheriff who had been chatting with the cashier that I worked in Indian education. The conversation turned quiet, as I was leaving the store, the sheriff tapped on the window, said, “I hope I don’t have to fish you out of the river.” Warning heeded, I never stopped in the town again.

On this trip, the sign read something like, WE LOVE GOD, GUNS, FREEDOM. AND OUR NEIGHBORS. Before and after that one were signs declaring what kind of books should be removed from the local schools, and others, in black and white: Salmon Lives Matter. When I shared a photo of the first sign, a friend asked if the business owner who posted it shouldn’t have the same freedom to write as I do. They should. I wasn’t asking for the sign to be removed; I was interested in who it was posted for and why it provided comfort for some, but for others, like myself, fear. A welcome sign for some is a no-trespassing sign for others — a way to know if you belong where you are about to enter. It feels like a political litmus test — presented as declaration, but used as a weapon.

Legitimate inquiry is so polarized that thoughtful discussion becomes impossible. I am the coyote and no matter my reason for bounding through that day, I don’t get the chance to have a conversation; I don’t get a chance to explain.

A welcome sign for some is a no-trespassing sign for others — a way to know if you belong where you are about to enter.

Coyote’s body, when my partner lifted it, was supple. He placed her in the truck, the dogs neither cautious nor curious about the third canid in their midst. We drove a half mile, carried her up a steep slope to another flat beneath a hackberry tree and laid her against a warm lichen covered boulder. I sat next to her and watched the last rays of a Sunday make simple clouds holy. I stroked her mane and ears and spoke to her in an old language, sprinkled her with medicine words, sage and bitterroot.

Retracing our route, we pass again the town and its signs. I press my hand to the cold glass of the truck’s window and wonder how it would be read. Did the eyes that saw me pass see a neighbor? When I pull my hand from the glass, a foggy imprint remains and then fades with the light of the town behind us. What remains ahead is in the dark, but it is a landscape we know. n

CMarie Fuhrman is the author of Camped Beneath the Dam: Poems and co-editor of Native Voices. She has published poetry and nonfiction in multiple journals including Emergence Magazine, Yellow Medicine Review and Poetry Northwest, as well as several anthologies. Fuhrman resides in the mountains of West Central Idaho.

THANKS FOR ALL THE SEEDS

Iam writing in response to Samantha Wohlfeil’s article about seed banks (“Diversity Defenders,” 1/19/2023). As a 13-year-old boy who enjoys working in my family’s garden and saving seeds, I believe that it is crucial to protect and preserve heirloom and non-GMO seeds for future generations.

I was excited to learn from the article that there are seed banks all around the world that are working to safeguard these important seeds. It is comforting to know that efforts are being made to ensure that we have access to diverse and healthy seeds in the future.

In my own small way, I have been saving seeds

LETTERS

Send comments to editor@inlander.com.

from the vegetables we grow in our garden, and I feel proud to be contributing to this important work. I hope that more people will start to recognize the significance of seed saving and support the efforts of organizations that are working toward preserving seeds. Thank you for publishing such an informative article, and I hope it will encourage more people to take an interest in seed saving.

CHRISTIAN MARSH

Readers respond to Nate Sanford’s article about crime in downtown Spokane (“Mean Streets?” 3/2/2023):

GLEN MOWBRAY: According to a few narrow minds, crime and inflation are all we care about? What about corporate crime and people getting away with crimes before our eyes and abusing the legal system to fight? Lack of affordable housing is nothing more than greed.

LOGAN BANE: I think you are saying if we get rid of the homeless there won’t be crime.

JAMES HOLT: Being homeless doesn’t make one a criminal. There are criminals that target the homeless because they’re vulnerable and exposed on the street. Criminalizing homelessness doesn’t solve the lack of affordable housing coupled with jobs that pay poverty wages, which is the leading cause of homelessness. And (Spokane Mayor Nadine) Woodward never had any ideas to solve the issue.

KRISTY LANGBEHN: Thanks Jay Inslee. n

Lisa Taylor, manager of the seed bank in Pullman, shows some of the pea collection. ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

Recent changes in Spokane law made it illegal to camp under viaducts. ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

PROTECTING THE PANHANDLE

Kootenai County groups adopt national models and new tactics to address housing shortage for workers

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

Kootenai County’s population has grown by more than 23 percent over the last decade. At the same time, the median home price has jumped 235 percent.

As home prices have surged in a market that hasn’t kept pace with demand, working families are having a hard time finding somewhere they can afford to buy or even rent, sparking concern among city and county leaders.

But an idea that began with a member of the Coeur d’Alene City Council has turned into a multi-pronged effort to combat the area’s housing crunch and ensure that people like teachers, firefighters and city employees have a place to live. From helping mobile home park residents form cooperatives to pairing older homeowners with roommates who can help around the house and finding a way to retain affordable homes, people in Kootenai County are working on multifaceted local approaches to a national issue.

Turns to the East (left) and Michael Collum live in two Coeur d’Alene mobile home parks that have worked to form cooperatives. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

In 2016, 75 percent of Kootenai households could afford the median home price of $250,000. Within five years the median price doubled to $500,000, which only 24 percent of Kootenai families could afford, according to a 2021 University of Idaho study solicited by local nonprofits and concerned agencies.

To make matters worse, the study found that rental rates surged 35 percent from 2018 to 2021, and the rate has grown since, with the average one-bedroom in Kootenai hitting $1,585 recently.

To find solutions, Coeur d’Alene City Council member Kiki Miller brought together housing and planning experts from local nonprofits and each major town in the county. Meeting over the course of the last two years, the Regional Housing and Growth Issues Partnership created a “toolbox” of housing strategies that could be implemented fast.

Rather than focus on “affordable” housing options as defined by the federal government, which target the poorest households, the group specifically looked at options for working families making around the area’s median income.

“These people are making fairly good money, but they’re still way out of range of renting or owning a home,” Miller says. “How do we house the people who keep our economy running?”

Some of the strategies the volunteer group highlighted are already underway, and they’re passing the torch to nonprofit Connect Kootenai to continue the push for housing options.

“There isn’t one thing that’s going to create housing for our local workers,” Miller says. “It’s a shotgun approach, a bunch of different things.”

RESIDENT-OWNED COMMUNITIES

One of the early strategies Miller helped connect people with was the concept of forming a resident-owned community.

Some mobile home parks in the area were sold to large investment companies in recent years, with immediate repercussions as lot rents jumped by hundreds of dollars — putting it out of reach for many residents, who are retirees and living on fixed incomes.

Miller got in touch with Victoria O’Banion, marketing and acquisitions specialist for the Northwest Cooperative Development Center, who started working with at least six communities in Kootenai County. The goal: to get residents some warning before a sale.

The resident-owned community model that O’Banion helps implement in the Northwest was first developed in New Hampshire, offering a blueprint for mobile home parks nationally.

The overall concept is that at least half of the homeowners in a park agree to form a cooperative, putting together a volunteer board and alerting the owner of the park. In states like Idaho, that gives mobile home owners the “opportunity to purchase,” with the right to be notified before a park is listed for sale.

The co-op can then work with O’Banion to get at least 80 percent of their community on board to apply for funding. They then develop a market-value offer for the land, with the loan including enough money to deal with operations and upkeep of the park, O’Banion says.

Residents in Oak Crest — a park with more than 450 manufactured homes in Coeur d’Alene — know what can happen when you don’t have that co-op in place before a sale. In late 2021, the park was sold to Havenpark Communities, which owns manufactured home parks around the country.

Oak Crest homeowner Michael Collum says his lot rent was about $305 per month when he bought his home in 2019. Since the sale, he says his rent has increased three times, and he now pays around $450 a month. For new owners moving into the park, he says the lot rent is more like $795 per month.

“Mobile homes were affordable housing until these capital investment companies started buying them up,” Collum says. “If I want to sell my home and move, it’s worth less now … because of the new lot rent.”

Collum and others have organized Oak Crest to form a coop with O’Banion’s help. They hope that within a year or two, they can make an offer to buy the park from the new owners to prevent future rent hikes.

...continued on next page

A man named Turns to the East, who lives in a Coeur d’Alene mobile home park called Dorchester, is working to organize his community into a co-op before they face the same situation.

“We own our homes and can’t move them … so they’ve got a captive market, and they know they can do whatever they want,” East says. “When we become a nonprofit we’ll cut out that slice of the profits. It’ll form a tighter community, and we’ll be able to help each other more.”

O’Banion says Washington doesn’t currently require landlords to offer homeowners the chance to compete before a sale, but state Senate Bill 5198 would establish a similar right if passed this session.

“There’s a healthy mix of older adults living on fixed incomes that are ready to age in place … and you have families looking to build generational wealth. That first home they can afford is often a manufactured home,” O’Banion says. “Being able to live in a community that is safe and has intergenerational residents is appealing to working families.”

SHARING YOUR HOME

Another new effort is HomeShare Kootenai County, which is also using a national model to find places for local workers to live.

The recently formed nonprofit started accepting applications from home providers and home seekers in February. The nonprofit runs background checks and then works to pair up people who would likely be a good match.

While some agreements may look similar to a straightforward lease, the idea is to connect roommates with people willing to accept services around the house in exchange for a more reasonable rent, says HomeShare’s Executive Director Carrie Ward.

Home seekers might be hospitality workers, traveling nurses, college students, teachers or others who need more options, Ward says.

“Our home providers are going to be seniors that maybe have spare rooms, or recently divorced people that have too big of a house, or snowbirds that are out of town part of the year, and singles that need extra income,” Ward says.

She hopes the nonprofit can ultimately work with seniors who will be able to stay in their home longer if they have someone move in who can help with chores and companionship.

After a successful match, home providers give the nonprofit 25 percent of the first month’s rent and the home seeker pays $35. So far, the group is finalizing three matches, and they hope to make at least 50 this year.

“It could take a couple weeks to possibly a couple of months to find a match,” Ward says. “But I want to emphasize it’s better than filling a spare room through Facebook or Craigslist. We do the background checks and check references.”

AFFORDABILITY THROUGH PAPERWORK

Deed restrictions may also be a useful tactic to maintain home affordability into the future.

The concept isn’t new. Community land trusts have operated around the country for decades, buying or accepting donated land to provide housing and maintain control over pricing.

But for nonprofits like Habitat For Humanity of North Idaho, it’s new to incorporate the structure into their homebuilds, says James Casper, its executive director.

Previously, Habitat would buy land, build a home and sell it to a family at an affordable price. When the owner decided to sell, they pocketed the profit.

But with land and housing prices ballooning out of control recently, the homes went from affordable to not affordable with just one set of owners, Casper says, which defeats the intention of helping those in need well into the future.

Instead, Habitat is now working with a model where it retains ownership of the land and, through a deed restriction, limits how much equity a homeowner can build over time.

Habitat retains the first right to purchase the home when someone is ready to sell, Casper says. Additionally, they’re able to restrict equity to, say, 3 percent per year. If someone buys a home for $150,000, by the time they want to sell in 10 years they’d have built up $45,000 in equity, in addition to the amount they’ve paid on the mortgage.

“The idea is we’re going to spread the benefit between more than one owner, more than one generation,” Casper says. “The first person gets to buy, build equity and move on. The next person who buys the house also gets to buy something affordable.”

Relatedly, the Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance is spearheading a similar type of deed restriction, where developers would agree to provide some homes in new developments at affordable costs, and homeowners would buy both the land and the home. The ability to build equity would similarly be limited on the deed, says Maggie Lyons, the alliance’s executive director.

“This is a great opportunity to unleash the private market in order to build houses our workers can afford and keep them affordable in perpetuity,” Lyons says.

Major financial institutions came up with the new model about a year and a half ago, Lyons says. She was among the first to get trained on the new restrictions, and says the alliance is the first nonprofit in Idaho set up to build partnerships with developers and manage the restrictions.

The homes will be targeted to those making 80 percent to 120 percent of the area median income, which for a family in Kootenai County is $82,200, Lyons says. The deeds may restrict owners to 1 percent equity per year, and require that the home be their primary residence.

The hope is to incentivize local governments to work creatively with developers (perhaps allowing townhouses or condos in areas zoned for single-family homes) in an area that has developed strong anti-growth sentiments.

“People think if we just don’t build, we’ll keep people from coming here, but that’s not how it works,” Lyons says. “We could become Sun Valley where the billionaires are replacing the millionaires because the supply is so short.” n

samanthaw@inlander.com

“PANHANDLE HOUSING,” CONTINUED...

“The idea is we’re going to spread the benefit between more than one owner.”

Brown vs. Woodward

Lisa Brown wants to be Spokane’s mayor. Plus, federal COVID money continues being doled out; and local firefighters pilot new anti-overdose drug.

You guessed it: Lisa Brown stepped down as director of the Washington state Department of Commerce so she could run for mayor of Spokane. “Together, we can get a city that is stuck in neutral moving again,” said Brown, a former state Senate majority leader and WSU-Spokane chancellor. Brown argued that current Mayor Nadine Woodward hadn’t truly accomplished her campaign goals. “The mayor ran on two issues: homelessness and crime downtown,” Brown said. “But most people would tell you that we have made little genuine progress on these issues. And many would say that things feel worse.” But given the chance to argue that downtown had become more dangerous over the last four years, Brown didn’t. “It feels about the same honestly,” she said. Meanwhile, Woodward accused Brown of using a “radical playbook straight out of Seattle that has only weakened our state laws and policies governing public safety.”

(DANIEL WALTERS)

MORE HOSPITALITY RELIEF

Washington state recently announced the end of pandemic restrictions, but relief money is still rolling out to help businesses impacted by the shutdowns. The state Department of Commerce announced this week that $100 million in grants from the federal American Rescue Plan will be available to hospitality businesses, with applications opening March 14. A webinar is scheduled for March 13 to explain the process to eligible restaurants, food trucks, hotels, motels, bakeries, brewpubs and more. The grants will be targeted to businesses that make less than $5 million per year and lost more than 25 percent of their income from 2019 to 2020 due to pandemic restrictions. “The hospitality and lodging industry is an essential part of our economy, and these grants will help affected businesses across the state recover from public health concerns that disrupted their operations for the last three years,” says Chris Green, assistant director of Commerce’s Office of Economic Development and Competitiveness. For more info, visit wahospitalitygrants.com.

(SAMANTHA

WOHLFEIL)

NEW OVERDOSE APPROACH

When someone overdoses on opioids, the Spokane Fire Department gives them Narcan, an emergency drug that rapidly reverses the overdose. The drug saves lives, but it can also send the recipient into a nasty withdrawal. It’s not uncommon for the fire department to get called back to the scene a few hours later because the person took more opioids and is overdosing again. Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer estimates that happens two to three times a day in Spokane streets. “It’s the argument that you can do the same thing over and over and expect a different result,” Schaeffer said Monday at a City Council meeting. To solve the problem, the Spokane Fire Department is exploring a pilot program with Washington State University’s medical school embedding emergency responders with a behavioral health unit with the power to prescribe Buprenorphine. The drug, used to alleviate withdrawal, was tightly controlled, but recent changes in federal drug policy have made it more accessible, and the fire department hopes that prescribing the drug immediately after an overdose will help prevent relapses. (NATE SANFORD)

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The Wrongs of Wright

The City Council raised eyebrows when it hired Chris Wright, a disbarred attorney who is married to a council member, for its six-figure policy adviser job

BY DANIEL WALTERS

Abra Belke thought she had a decent shot at becoming the Spokane City Council’s new policy adviser. She had the position’s required law degree, and she’d spent three years as the special counsel for the Montana State Legislature. She worked five years as a policy staffer in Congress. She’d even briefly served as Mayor Nadine Woodward’s campaign manager in 2019, before resigning after she was asked “to act contrary to (her) values.”

But this time, she didn’t even get an interview. And when she learned in January who had gotten the job, she was both baffled and insulted.

“I was like, you have to be kidding me,” Belke says.

Sure, Chris Wright’s resume was impressive too. He had been a state government ombudsman and a legislative analyst. He’d spent nearly a decade as in-house counsel for Metropolitan Mortgage and nine years on the Spokane Park Board. But Wright also came with two messy asterisks.

First: He’s married to City Council member Karen Stratton, forcing the council to leap through a variety of hoops to try to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest.

And second: He’s been disbarred as an attorney.

In 2020, the Washington State Bar Association accused him of years of misconduct. He resigned instead of defending himself, stipulating to the state Supreme Court that he would leave the law entirely.

Combine them both and, for Belke, the conclusion is obvious.

“If this person was not the spouse of another City Council person who they trust, I don’t think they would have gotten the benefit of the doubt,” Belke says.

‘WEIRD OR SKETCHY’

If there’s one council member who hasn’t been afraid to call out conflicts of interest, it’s Stratton. In 2016, she was the sole vote against hiring Chris Cavanaugh as human resources director, because Cavanaugh’s brother-in-law was the head of the city’s biggest union.

Stratton often abstained from casting votes about parks department business when her husband was on the park board. But now that Wright has a much more direct relationship with the city council, the situation is messier. Wright isn’t worried.

“We have overlapped with different employers in different places over the years,” Wright says. “We’ve always managed to navigate that fine.”

Stratton now carries around a binder with conflict of interest policies and legal guidelines about what she can and can’t do.

“We know: We don’t talk about it at home,” Stratton says of council business. “It’s just something that we stay away from.”

The policy adviser position was created in 2015 to conduct legal analysis and research policies independent from the mayor’s office. Yet the city’s nepotism rules won’t let Stratton directly ask her husband to do any of that work. She has to ask another council member to ask Wright to help her research a policy.

Former policy adviser, Brian McClatchey, says he wouldn’t even show up for meetings that discussed Commerce Department funding when his wife — Lisa Brown, who announced her campaign for Spokane mayor last week — was director of that state agency.

Stratton knows there’s very little room for error.

“There are lots of people watching,” Stratton says. “Some for all the right reasons, and some are just waiting to see a mistake being made.”

Some of the criticism has been predictable: The conservative Spokane Good Government Alliance decried the hire as “nepotism at its finest.” Brian Coddington, Woodward’s spokesman, says the mayor is concerned about “how the community might view and receive” Wright’s hiring.

Even former City Council President Ben Stuckart, who helped create the policy adviser position, says the hire could appear a “little weird or sketchy.”

“Someone would really have to explain to me how there’s not a conflict of interest,” Stuckart says. “I love Karen to death, but I have to say that.”

After Wright heard about the job opportunity last year, he says he spoke to City Council President Breean Beggs, stressing that he didn’t “want to apply if it’s going to be a difficult process because of Karen.”

“I was told, ‘Go ahead, it’s not a big deal,’” Wright says.

Beggs says the council isn’t legally allowed to not hire someone because of their spouse.

“My understanding is that it would have been incredibly illegal if we had said, ‘This doesn’t look good, it’s troublesome,’” Beggs says.

In fact, Council member Jonathan Bingle says he was told by the city’s lawyers that he wasn’t even legally allowed to ask questions about Wright’s marriage to Stratton.

“Everything about this has been so frustrating,” says Bingle, who has found himself avoiding critical questions or comments because of his relationship with Stratton. “It feels like a favor was done for Karen.”

But Beggs says that the council unanimously agreed that Wright was best for the position.

“He really was the top of the list,” Beggs says. But to reach that conclusion the council either had to grapple with the Wright’s checkered past or overlook it.

‘WOULDN’T LET HIM WALK MY DOG’

Contractor Jason Sleater says he used to think of Wright as more than just his lawyer. He thought of him as a friend, even a mentor. Not anymore.

“I don’t think he should be in a position of trust in any capacity,” Sleater says. “I wouldn’t even let him walk my dog.”

In 2016, Sleater hired Wright to represent him in an ongoing construction dispute. When 2017 arrived, Wright stopped communicating. Without telling Sleater, he stopped showing up to court hearings.

“He just literally vanished,” Sleater says. “I never even got a phone call. I went to his office. I tried to track him down at [his] home.”

Since his lawyer was a no-show at court hearings, Sleater’s lawsuit was getting torn up in court. Sleater not only lost his case by default, he was left defenseless from the counterclaims. He ended up on the hook for nearly $400,000, a lien on his house and with his reputation in tatters.

“It was just shocking that he would do that to me and my family,” Sleater says. “It was just crazy.”

But at the time, Wright says he was “sliding more and more into a state of depression.” Two of his sisters were diagnosed with cancer within a single week, Stratton says.

Sleater sued Wright for malpractice, and Wright didn’t bother to defend himself. Even before Sleater was awarded nearly $2.6 million, Wright and Stratton had filed for bankruptcy.

“It was a dark hole, it was a deep hole,” Wright says. “I dug it myself.”

Both Wright and Stratton argue Sleater isn’t trustworthy, noting that Sleater was sanctioned for submitting a fraudulent document during one of Wright’s bankruptcy hearings. (Sleater claims he was duped by a third party.)

Regardless, Wright stopped communicating with Fidelity National Title Insurance Company in 2015, refusing to return phone calls and emails from his client asking him to fix mistakes, hire experts or perform discovery. They sued Wright for malpractice.

Chris Wright, Spokane City Council’s policy advisor, sits on the same dais as his wife, council member Karen Stratton. DANIEL WALTERS PHOTO

In October 2017, another of Wright’s clients went to the courthouse, where he learned that his business was held in contempt and had been charged $200 a day for the previous 38 days because of Wright’s failure to produce documents.

The Washington State Bar Association laid out a pattern of behavior involving at least five cases across three years.

“It’s something a 14-year-old would do, to just bury their head in the sand and not just take care of it,” says Kevin Holt, Sleater’s current attorney. “It would have taken one day out of his life to call his client and say, ‘I’m having an emotional breakdown, sorry.’”

Yet, during this whole time, Wright kept showing up for lengthy park board meetings and helping out with his and Stratton’s cannabis farm.

“The pressures of litigation overwhelmed me, and I decided, ‘I just can’t,’” Wright says. “I’m going to do something else today.”

So in 2020, when the bar association brought the allegations against him, Wright didn’t put up a fight. Instead, he resigned, promising to never again be a lawyer and agreeing to be “subject to all restrictions that apply to a disbarred lawyer.”

Both Stratton and Wright claimed that he wasn’t actually disbarred. But federal court records show that Eastern Washington’s U.S. District Court officially disbarred him a month after his resignation.

To Belke, a disbarment — the punishment every lawyer fears — was a huge deal.

“It’s very difficult to get disbarred,” Belke says. “Now you’re advising some of the most important elected officials in the county in Eastern Washington on what makes good government?”

DEAL BREAKERS

Two council members told the Inlander the reason Belke didn’t get an interview for the adviser position was because her preferred start date was too late. But Belke says she was clear that, if necessary, she could start as soon as mid-February, just weeks after Wright ultimately started.

By contrast, the City Council didn’t seem particularly bothered by Wright’s past when it came to hiring this new role.

“No one really brought that up as a major concern,” Wright says.

Beggs says the issue was discussed in meetings. But none of the council members say they’d read the state bar’s allegations against Wright. Council member Michael Cathcart was the only one who says he asked Wright about it.

“I think he is very contrite. He is very interested in making up for his past,” Cathcart says. “That’s the sense I got.”

And while Cathcart voted against Wright’s appointment, he says he did it only because he opposes the existence of the position, which earns the $107,000 annually.

Besides Wright and Belke, the other finalist was Jose Trejo, a well-known and longtime tenants’ rights attorney. But Cathcart felt Wright was by far the most impressive candidate. Already, Cathcart’s been impressed by Wright’s transparency.

Beggs, a lawyer himself, didn’t think the misconduct was relevant to Wright’s new role. He notes Wright will have a lot more oversight than he had before.

Wright makes the same point.

“I don’t think you can do that very long with seven bosses,” Wright says, before correcting himself. “Karen’s place in that equation means that’s six, really.”

On Monday night, Wright sat on the dais just five chairs away from his wife. After the meeting, Stratton is frustrated, even angry, that she and her husband have to continue to answer for his past actions, and are being dragged back to relive their painful past, where they lost everything. She suggests that if things get worse, they could both resign and leave Spokane entirely.

Days earlier, Stratton had struck a more hopeful note. Considering his ability to survive the bankruptcy, the lawsuits, the misconduct hearings — Stratton says she admires her spouse’s tenacity.

“I would have never shown my face again in public, because that’s the hardest thing in the world to do,” Stratton says. “There’s gotta be some redemption in the world, right?” n

Spokane and the Inland Northwest have a bit of an identity issue. Are we a city, or are we a refuge for people fleeing cities? Do we enjoy an enviable quality of life, or do we struggle to pay the bills? Do we value our isolation from the rest of the world, or do we celebrate the many people who call this place home? Are we growing, or have Spokane’s best days passed us by?

Impossible questions to answer, perhaps, but one place to start is to see how we rate compared to similarly sized metro areas (and a couple of regional behemoths). By ranking the Spokane region against its peers, we hope to see how Spokane is really doing, potentially bust some myths and — hopefully — better understand where we live and what problems are ours alone.

A quick note on our data: While we used many different sources, and noted as much throughout this section, we did our best to keep what we were comparing the same. When we refer to a city, we’re referring to its metro area. More specifically, we’re referring to a metropolitan statistical area, a definition from the U.S. Census bureau defined as a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties.

Take a look with clear eyes. Take stock of our city. It’s past time for all of us to ask: Is this the place we want it to be?

— NICHOLAS DESHAIS

DATA COLLECTED BY NICHOLAS DESHAIS, NATE SANFORD, DANIEL WALTERS AND SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

Ask anyone what being a Spokanite means, and you’ll get as many different answers as there are people. But the numbers don’t lie: We are whiter, poorer and less educated than many of our peer cities. SOURCES: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

593,466

SPOKANE-COEUR D’ALENE The Lilac City

644,217

TOLEDO, OHIO The Glass City

556,893

PORTLAND, MAINE The Forest City

587,202

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

The City With Soul

654,012

DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA

The Bull City

PERCENTAGE OF WHITE RESIDENTS

801,470

BOISE, IDAHO The City of Trees

683,183

MADISON, WISCONSIN The Mad City

497, 997

RENO, NEVADA

The Biggest Little City in the World

4.01m SEATTLE The Emerald City

2.5m

PORTLAND, OREGON The Rose City

PERCENTAGE OF FOREIGN-BORN RESIDENTS

PEOPLE PER SQUARE MILE

PERCENTAGE OF RESIDENTS 25 AND OLDER WITH A COLLEGE DEGREE

BOISE: 35.5%

TOLEDO: 30.2%

PORTLAND, MAINE: 45% JACKSON: 33%

DURHAM: 50.8%

MADISON: 48.8%

RENO: 34.3%

SEATTLE: 46.9% PORTLAND: 42.2%

PERCENTAGE POPULATION CHANGE

Everyone knows it: We’re growing. In some ways, that’s good. Our city is strengthened by new people, not to mention the taxes they pay. And while it’s become more difficult to buy a house or afford rent, we avoided the biggest growth seen in Boise and, perhaps better, the recent shrinkage of Seattle and Portland. SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME MEDIAN RENT FOR ONE-BEDROOM APARTMENT

PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN HOME VALUE

Exactly zero people will be surprised to see that our home values outpaced nearly every other city in our list over the past five years, except Boise. But look at the last year and you’ll see a cooldown of sorts, putting Spokane on par with all of our peer cities, except again for Boise, which saw its redhot market go ice cold.

SOURCE: FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY

SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

SOURCE:

ANNUAL DEATHS INVOLVING FENTANYL

Overdose death data isn’t reported the same across the country, with some jurisdictions still finalizing recent data, and others lumping fentanyl-involved deaths with those involving other opioids. In some cases, suspected overdose deaths aren’t differentiated by drug at all. The data below is an annual estimation using the most recent data we could find.

SOURCES: LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS, MEDICAL EXAMINERS, HEALTH DATA WEBSITES

CLOSEST SKI AREA TO CITY CENTER

TALLEST BUILDING SPOKANE 34 MILES MT. SPOKANE TOLEDO 76.2 MILES MT. BRIGHTON PORTLAND, MAINE 41 MILES LOST VALLEY JACKSON 346 MILES CLOUDMOUNT DURHAM 120 MILES LIBERTY MOUNTAIN BOISE 18 MILES BOGUS BASIN MADISON 24 MILES TYROL BASIN RENO 33 MILES MT. ROSE SEATTLE 49 MILES SNOQUALMIE PORTLAND 55 MILES MOUNT HOOD

SPOKANE

Bank of America Financial Center

feet, 20 floors, built 1981

TOLEDO

Fifth Third Center at One SeaGate 411 feet, 32 floors, built 1982

PORTLAND, MAINE 201 Federal (under construction)

feet, 18 stories, expected 2023

DURHAM RENO Silver Legacy Resort & Casino 410 feet, 38 floors, built 1995

Tower SEATTLE Columbia Center 937 feet, 76 floors, built 1985

feet, 17 floors, built 1986 PORTLAND Wells Fargo Center 546 feet, 40 floors, built 1972

BOISE

PRICE OF A BUS TICKET

Like every other transit agency, STA was hit hard by COVID. Yet transit officials say ridership has bounced back to 80 percent of pre-pandemic performance, and its City Line system is on pace to begin operating this summer. Still, the cost of a two-hour fare knocks on the upper range of fares. Unless, that is, you’re under 18; then riding a bus in Spokane is free.

SOURCES: LOCAL TRANSIT AGENCIES

MAJOR POTENTIAL NATURAL DISASTERS

PORTLAND, MAINE $2 90-MINUTE

JACKSON $1.50 ONE RIDE

SPOKANE WILDFIRE NUMBER OF MAJOR HOSPITALS (300 BEDS OR MORE) NUMBER OF UNIVERSITIES (MORE THAN 1,000 STUDENTS)

TOLEDO

DURHAM $2 DAY PASS (FREE IN CHAPEL HILL)

BOISE $1.50 ONE RIDE

MADISON $2 ONE RIDE

RENO $2 ONE RIDE

SEATTLE $2.75 ONE RIDE

PORTLAND $2.50 2.5-HOUR

CAR THEFTS REPORTED IN 2021

(PERCENT CHANGE FROM 2019 TO 2021)

SPOKANE: 2004

PORTLAND, MAINE: 2014

DURHAM: 2016

HOMICIDES IN 2021, INCLUDING PEOPLE KILLED BY POLICE

TOLEDO: 2020

JACKSON: 2017

RENO: 2017

BOISE: 2021

MADISON: 2023

SEATTLE: 2022

PORTLAND: 2022

LAST SITTING PRESIDENT TO VISIT

George W. Bush

Barack Obama

Donald Trump

Joe Biden

SOURCE: WASHINGTON POST POLICE SHOOTINGS DATABASE

SOURCE: POLICE ANNUAL REPORTS, NEWS REPORTS, HEALTH DATA

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VISUAL ARTS

MYTH REALIZED

Spokane artist Steph Sammons publishes a colorful art book filled with imaginary creatures

Storyteller, educator, writer, set carpenter, airplane model designer. Steph Sammons has had many titles throughout her life, but she never considered herself an artist.

“For a long time I didn’t feel like a real artist, because art was something I did when I couldn’t do what I was supposed to do,” Sammons says.

When she was younger, Sammons would’ve described herself as the “smart girl,” with a full-ride to Santa Clara University and a double major to prove it. This all shifted when she was in a car wreck during her sophomore year in 1993, resulting in a traumatic brain injury. From relearning to read and write to recently publishing her own art book, Sammons has taken quite the journey.

Sammons’ Alphabet of Mythological Creatures is a playful collection of drawings depicting mythical creatures from

BY ELLIE ROTHSTROM

cultures all around the globe, along with beasts inspired by stories from her own life. Although her book, released this winter, is now featured in four Inland Northwest bookstores and two art galleries, Sammons says she never expected to receive so much attention and instead created the book as an ode to her own personal journey.

“It was kind of like going back to school,” she says. “I wanted to be a straight-A student again, just to prove to myself that I could, because I’d been through so much.”

The artist’s professional life leading up to this moment has been as eclectic as the creatures in her book. From working in costume and set design for the Tacoma Little Theater to drafting airplane models at Boeing, Sammons was engaging her artistic talents long before she called herself an artist.

Her background in drafting influences her “struc-

tured” art style today. While the book’s mythical creatures are whimsical and full of robust movement and animation, Sammons’ aesthetic is organized and clear — she likes things in their place. She uses ink and colored pencils to bring her mythical creatures to life. The selfdescribed “Sharpie girl” doesn’t shy away from heavy linework, nor does she reject color.

“I love color, and I love putting contrasting colors together,” she says.

After Boeing, Sammons attended Eastern Washington University’s recreational therapy program, directing her talents toward hospitals and schools via art therapy. She’s worked with children in the pediatric oncology ward, as well as kids with special needs throughout the Spokane area.

...continued on page 26

Steph Sammons drew 26 mythical creatures, like the cipactli, for her book. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

During her time working in Post Falls public schools, Sammons was asked to work with a little boy on the autism spectrum who was born without an optic nerve. She taught herself braille and got creative with sensory lessons and the use of sound. Using different keys of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy as an auditory tether for the student, Sammons would introduce the smell of pine or the taste of mint gum, creating for him an understanding of the color green.

“He can still go through the entire color wheel to this day,” she says.

Too Good To Be True

Jersey Boys at the Civic tours The Four Seasons’ rocky path to glimmering success

BY SAMANTHA HOLM

It’s been over 50 years since four boys from Jersey formed the hit 1960s band The Four Seasons, but their story continues inspiring audiences around the globe.

Wasson and Civic Music Director Henry McNulty to best represent the real Seasons.

“I think we’ve been very lucky with our cast,” McNulty says. “This group — particularly the core Four Seasons — have taken to the music very easily with a lot of commitment.”

Jersey Boys takes two unique musical approaches. Unlike other musicals, the actors playing the Four Seasons play instruments live while singing. McNulty directs six musicians behind the show’s set as opposed to playing in the pit orchestra.

“We felt that it would be more interesting and fitting for the show if the band were on stage and part of the visual at some points,” he says.

As daunting of a feat as playing instruments live is, the four leads are taking it in stride.

Singing lead vocals as Valli, Renz’s voice will be amplified “so it jumps out of the speaker,” Schaefer says.

Astoryteller by nature, Sammons rarely produces artwork without some symbolism behind the piece. The creatures in her Alphabet of Mythological Creatures are inspired by the people in her life and legends from cultures worldwide.

For example, Sammons’ niece is from South Korea, so the letter S, the Samjok-o, is for her. The letter C for Cipactli is inspired by a child she used to babysit, who commissioned her to create a creature he had in mind.

“When he was 9, he came to my very first art show, and he just stood against the wall. He had this commission he wanted me to do, and it was like a fire-swamplizard thing. Every time I sell a book, he gets some of the money from it.”

One of the creatures most dear to Sammons is her J.R.R. Tolkien-inspired Ent — a personified tree for the letter E. She created this piece during summer 2020’s raging forest fires, selling prints and postcards and donating all proceeds to Spokane Valley firefighters.

“A lot of these were in response to what was going on in the world,” Sammons says of the creatures she chose.

Because the project was always meant to be a personal accomplishment, Sammons explains that the public attention she’s received for the book has been overwhelming, and she can’t believe that some of her most closely held dreams, like being featured in Auntie’s Bookstore, have been realized.

“My idea of a hot date when I was little was to go down to Auntie’s and hang out and look at the books, and I thought, ‘Someday I’m going to make a greeting card that’s gonna be good enough to put on the rack at Auntie’s.’ But now, I have a book there,” she says.

The most fulfilling aspect of it all for Sammons has been the connections she’s made with others, and the general support of the Spokane community. She says a former high school teacher recently bought copies of the book at Wishing Tree Books for their students to have.

Amid the excitement and whirlwind Sammons has experienced over the past few months, she’s not forgotten the reason she loves creating art.

“I love the story behind it. Everything has a story behind it. It’s surprising the amount of people that art touches.” n

Learn more about artist Steph Sammons at her website, simplystephsammons.com

That story is being told once again as the fourtime Tony-Award winning musical from Broadway comes to the Spokane Civic Theatre’s main stage. It’s rare for a community theater to stage a production as big as Jersey Boys, but thanks to a serendipitous series of events, Civic Creative Director Jake Schaefer made it happen.

An auspiciously timed visit by Schaefer to New York City and a network of connections, including Jersey Boys license-holder, ultimately landed the production for the Civic’s ongoing 75th season.

“There aren’t a million other community theaters that have done it,” Schaefer says of the show.

Schaefer has directed many shows at the Civic over the years, but Jersey Boys is special. This particular musical, he says, is “a total reflection of my person.”

Schaefer’s relationship to Jersey Boys began with his grandfather introducing him to The Four Seasons as a child.

Along with being a tribute to the cheery barbershop-style tunes that romanced the ’60s, Jersey Boys tells the story of four blue-collar men — Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi — using their talent and passion for music to rise from the streets of Newark and into eternal stardom. The men’s journey is fraught with trials, including gambling debts, Mafia threats and familial losses, which they overcome to create some of the most memorable hits of the decade.

As Schaefer puts it, Jersey Boys is a “story of people chasing their dreams.”

Having started as an actor at Spokane Civic Theatre in his youth and climbing the ranks to become a recording artist, producer and director at that very same theater, Schaefer identifies with the Season’s dedication to realizing their musical dreams.

Along with the inspiring story Jersey Boys tells, Schaefer says “the quality of music is timeless.”

Assistant Director Ryan Wasson agrees.

“I would describe Jersey Boys as the quintessential jukebox musical,” Wasson says. “Everyone at some point in their lives has heard The Four Seasons and their music, so audiences will enjoy getting this behindthe-scenes story of how their music came to be.”

The talented batch of actors cast as the story’s four protagonists — Daniel Renz as Valli, Nathan Hoyt as Massi, Jameson Elton as DeVito and Jonah Taylor as Gaudio — were handpicked by Schaefer,

Taylor and Hoyt each play the keyboard at different sections of the musical, while Elton channels the spirit of Tommy DeVito and serves up some guitar.

Along with being talented vocalists, actors and instrumentalists, the whole cast also learned choreographed dances to some of the musical’s most famous songs, including a stellar number during the show’s finale, “Who Loves You.”

Nineteen-year-old Renz has a soaring falsetto and captivating stage presence. In a room seating just 355 people, it feels as though Frankie Valli himself is looking you right in the eyes while singing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”

“It’s been one of the most heavy-hitter shows,” he says. “It’s really tested the limits on how far I could really go, [as far as] practicing every day and the commitment.”

As a budding actor, Renz says the role has been perfect for him.

“This is the most professional cast, and artistic team and crew I’ve ever worked with,” he says. “This really gave me a sense of what it’s like in the real world.” n

Jersey Boys • March 10-26; Wed-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm

• $10-$35

• Spokane Civic Theatre • 1020 N. Howard St. • spokanecivictheatre.com • 509-325-2507

Sammons’ art book is available at Auntie’s and more. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

The Civic’s dapper Four Seasons cast. SPOKANE CIVIC THEATRE PHOTO

The Messy Empathy of Dear Evan Hansen

The Tony-winning musical mines trauma and exploitation to find deep emotional connections

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

It can be easy to recoil when you actually hear the basic story of the acclaimed hit musical Dear Evan Hansen. A high schooler with no friends (Evan) fabricates a narrative that he was close with a classmate who committed suicide (Connor) to comfort his grieving parents, sparks up a relationship with the dead boy’s sister (Zoe), and goes viral with this fake inspirational tale.

Yikes! Feel free to cringe!

But that discomfort is, at least in part, the point. Dear Evan Hansen delivers a complex and authentically messy look at the ways in which people seek empathetic bonds in the face of extreme loneliness and tragedy. It’s a wonderfully challenging piece of theater bolstered by, easily, some of the best songs written for the stage in the past decade. It’s alright to recoil from Dear Evan Hansen, and it’s equally valid to absolutely love the show. You can make that call for yourself when Dear Evan Hansen comes to Spokane for the first time (March 14-19).

“This is a show about connection and about the need for connection. That’s a very, very human need,” says Alaina Anderson, who plays Connor’s sister/Evan’s love interest Zoe Murphy in the touring production.

“And I think that as much as Evan gravitates towards the Murphy family and sort of becomes embedded in them because he’s so desperate for that connection, it also does equally stem from a need that they have for him to

fill this hole that’s suddenly arisen in their lives. All of the characters in the show are doing their best, and I think you can be doing your best and trying to do a good thing and still not be innocent, still be complicit in the end results.”

“You know, life is kind of gross,” adds John Hemphill with a laugh. The Tacoma native plays Connor’s dad, Larry Murphy, who gets a second chance at raising a son via Evan.

“And I think that our job is to approach this story from truth,” he continues. “I feel like as long as we are doing that, the way that the audience takes the show is going to be personal to them. So it’s not about manipulation. It’s just presenting this story in truth. And beyond that, I think that life is messy, and we just have to not judge it and allow it to be what it is.”

While the thorny empathy machine that is the story might rub certain people the wrong way, the songwriting of the show is borderline undeniable. There’s a reason it won six Tony Awards in 2017 including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Orchestrations. The show is packed with extremely catchy, soaring, anthemic mostly piano-driven pop songs written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul that get stuck in one’s head after a single listen: “You Will Be Found,” “Waving Through a Window,” “Sincerely, Me,” etc.

The show’s musical signature is so distinct that you could recognize a Dear Evan Hansen-type song after a few chords being played.

“I remember hearing the soundtrack like years before [I auditioned], when it first came out, being impressed with how fresh it was,” says Anderson. “It’s very not classic musical theater, it’s much more bespoke influences, and pop influences and some rock influences. And that was just really cool to listen to, it’s like a musical theater song that I can blast in the car with my dad who’s not a musical theater person, and he’ll enjoy it. [laughs]”

The show also was ahead of its time in terms of depicting and criticizing social media. The stage presentation very effectively features an array of glass screens to depict the frantic online world, and the downsides of bandwagoning internet falsehoods resonated in the script, years before the term “milkshake duck” was coined (Urban Dictionary it). In any given scene, one character is withholding information with someone else, often leading to comedic, sweet and heart-wrenching moments (like when Evan sings a love song directly to Zoe — “If I Could Tell Her” — through the guise of his sentiments being Connor’s thoughts).

“What’s interesting about the show in general is that every character on the stage has an arc and a journey,” says Hemphill. “Everyone seems to get what they want or think they want, and then they have to wrestle with maybe losing that thing.”

We as humans are far from infallible. Even when we act with the best empathetic intentions, it’s hard to not get caught up if those paths lead to the fulfillment of personal desires. Dear Evan Hansen doesn’t even momentarily shy away from walking that precarious tightrope in order to evoke emotions. So if you’re heading to the musical, don’t make the mistake Hemphill did the first time he saw the show and be unprepared for the show’s emotional impact.

“Everybody bring tissues!” Anderson says with a laugh. n

Dear Evan Hansen • March 14-18 at 7:30 pm, March 18 at 2 pm, March 19 at 1 and 6:30 pm • $48-$96 • First Interstate Center for the Arts • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • firstinterstatecenter.org

Evan (Anthony Norman) and Zoe (Alaina Anderson) share a loving (and complicated) moment. EVAN ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

WFH WORKPLACE COMEDIES

Remember working in an office? These streaming workplace comedies will remind you of simpler professional times

BY BILL FROST

Like many of you, I’ve been working from home for three years now. You’re probably also getting emails from the bosses lately, something along the lines of “Come on back to the office, fam! Don’t you miss the free Red Bulls, foosball, and wearing pants?” Nope. I’m firmly in the #WFH4Life camp now, though I do occasionally miss the office (if not The Office). To scratch that itch, here are some of the best workplace comedies you can stream now.

PARTY DOWN (HULU, STARZ)

The original 2009-10 run of Starz comedy Party Down was barely a ratings blip, but it’s since become a cult favorite. Struggling Hollywood actors and writers toiling away as cater-waiters for successful showbizzers sounds like hell, but the killer cast (which includes Jane Lynch, Adam Scott and Lizzy Caplan) wrings sharp laughs from every miserable event. Starz finally rebooted Party Down last month with the O.G. cast (sans Caplan), which means the Party Down crew are now 13 years more bitter on the job.

WORKAHOLICS (HULU, PARAMOUNT+)

Capital D-U-M dumb, Workaholics cranked out 86 episodes over seven seasons without ever running dry on idiotic plots. Adam (Adam Devine), Blake (Blake Anderson) and Ders (Anders Holm) live together in a ramshackle Rancho Cucamonga house and “work” at a telemarketing company, but mostly they just get high and concoct ludicrous get-rich-quick schemes — this was pre-crypto currency, BTW. In the tradition of Seinfeld and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the Workaholics never learned a single lesson.

CORPORATE (PARAMOUNT+)

If Workaholics was the most gloriously stupid, liveaction Comedy Central sitcom ever, Corporate was easily the darkest. Matt (Matt Ingebretson) and Jake (Jake Weisman) work at a drab and industrially vague megacorporation, and their limited time away from the desk is equally dour — it was Severance before Severance

(and pants)

Corporate hilariously satirized every aspect of what used to be IRL office life, including manufactured cash-in holidays (like “Remember Day,” a pointed mashup of Christmas and 9/11).

BETTER OFF TED (HULU)

Like Corporate, Better Off Ted was set at an uber-conglomerate of nebulous intent, though there were occasional mentions of “cow-less beef” and “killer robots.” Corporate cog Ted (Jay Harrington) is a mid-level suit trying to balance his ethics with his company’s evil practices, frequently talking directly to the camera to explain what’s going on. Opposite Ted is his boss Veronica, a cold company shark played to poisonous perfection by Portia de Rossi. Needless to say, ’Merica didn’t take to Ted

THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW (HBO MAX)

It’s hard to believe in these dragons-and-dystopia times, but HBO also used to do comedies, and The Larry Sanders Show (1992-98) was one of its best. The Garry Shandling series was set behind — and in front of — the scenes of a late-night talk show, focused on the network power struggles between host Larry (Shandling), producer Artie (Rip Torn), and, to a lesser extent, sidekick Hank (Jeffrey Tambor). Larry Sanders holds up, especially when you realize that basic White guys still host all late-night talk shows.

CALL MY AGENT! (NETFLIX)

The agents at a French talent agency (led by Camille Cottin) struggle to run the company after the untimely death of their boss (he swallowed a wasp while vacationing in Brazil — perfect). Call My Agent! may be in French (sorry), but the daily stress of enduring client and coworker egos and facing potential financial ruin translates to any language. The celebrities playing hyper-diva versions of themselves are also mostly French, but you’ll recognize some of them (like Monica Bellucci and Sigourney Weaver). n

THE BUZZ BIN

FINAL REVEAL

After being closed for construction this past year, Spokane Public Library’s INDIAN TRAIL and SOUTH HILL branches are reopening to the public this month. These are the last two facilities to be renovated and updated as part of SPL’s $77 million, voterapproved bond, which included new buildings for the Hillyard and Liberty Park branches, plus hybrid community space The Hive, and updates to the Shadle and Central libraries. Indian Trail’s branch reopened earlier this week, while the South Hill branch returns on March 21. Both also debut regionally themed children’s play spaces: the Basalt Burrow at Indian Trail and the Turkey Treetops at South Hill. Find out more at spokanelibrary.org (CHEY SCOTT)

INSANE INVENTIONS

What’s better than allowing kids to dream up a ludicrous invention like a cat-poop-launching catapult? Seeing that invention brought to life by a group of pros who gleefully build and test out the wild designs. On Netflix’s MAKING FUN, designer Jimmy DiResta hears all sorts of ideas via video chats with kids around the country. If the youngsters can convince the grumpy builder their idea is clever enough, he and his team make it. A massive dinosaur that launches tacos onto a person sitting on a toilet below? Done. Rideable unicorns that fart glitter? Yep. A nightmarish crossover between a nutcracker, Edward Scissorhands and a blender? Uh, yeah, sure kid. The silly, light-hearted show is an easy watch that just might rekindle your imagination, too. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST

Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online on March 10.

MILEY CYRUS, ENDLESS SUMMER VACATION. With its lead single “Flowers” dominating the charts, the pop superstar looks to make 2023 a year of Miley with this LAcentric album.

FRANKIE ROSE, LOVE AS PROJECTION. After covering the Cure’s Seventeen Seconds for her last album, Frankie Rose (Vivian Girls and Dum Dum Girls) finds more dreamy, synthy indie pop sounds that feel both retro and fresh.

SLEAFORD MODS, UK GRIM. The always feisty British post-punk duo return with more minimalist screeds cutting at the vapid and exploitative upper class of UK society. (SETH SOMMERFELD)

Party Down is down to party for round two.

IS FOR COOKIE

BY MARY

Fun fact: Cookies date to seventh-century Persia. Bakers used “test cakes,” or drops of batter, to check the temperature of their ovens. Those little test cakes are now cookies, often just as fancy and timeconsuming as their original forebearer. The chocolate chip cookie was a mistake, accidentally created by Ruth Wakefield in 1937 while she was baking for the Toll House Restaurant in Massachusetts. (Yep, that Toll House).

Americans are big fans of cookies, consuming more than 34 billion Oreos every year, and Spokane isn’t any different. As you drive around town you may notice that, suddenly, cookies are everywhere! Local and chain bakeries are dishing these delectable goodies by the dozen.

While the region has never been short on options for cookies, there’s been an influx of new shops in the last few years. Together, several recently arrived national franchises and Inland Northwest originals offer countless combinations of sweet treats. I had the chance to sample cookies at five bakeries, here’s a snapshot of what I tried.

ROCKET BAKERY

3315 N. Argonne Rd. and other locations; rocketspokane.com

What we got: Peanut butter chocolate chip, seasonal frosted, chocolate no-bake; $1.95 each

The Argonne Rocket Bakery is my favorite. There’s plenty of room to sit, enjoy a cup of coffee and dig into a cookie while reading and people-watching. Each Rocket Bakery around town has its own cool vibe with the same reliable, consistent eats and friendly service.

The peanut butter chocolate chip cookie is crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Rocket’s bakers use crunchy peanut butter, producing an incredible texture. It’s the perfect amount of sweet and salt, with a perfect bite.

The seasonal frosted cookie differs from the Rocket’s traditional pink sugar cookie in that the seasonal version boasts vanilla buttercream while the pink has almond cream cheese frosting. The seasonal cookie is BIG, topped with oodles of decorated frosting. Under all that frosting, Rocket’s sugar cookie is not overly sweet and has a great chew.

Lastly, the chocolate no-bake cookie: This is my brother’s favorite cookie, and he won’t eat it from just anywhere — it has to be the Rocket. The chewy, oat-y chocolate cookie is sweet yet salty, but not overwhelmingly, has a hint of peanut butter, and could easily be deemed a hearty breakfast.

BREAÜXDOO BAKERY

14109 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley; breauxdoobakery.com

What we got: Glazed and Confused, Brüella DeVil, Hollywood Diet, $4.50 each

Breaüxdoo has the weekend evening cookie market cornered. We tried cookies on a Sunday night, when no other bakeries were open. Their store has a fun, retro black-and-red theme and a few seats if you’d like to sit and stay. We tried the Brüella DeVil — the bakery’s take on the East Coast favorite black and white cookie,

featuring half vanilla and half chocolate icing. This classic is a light and delicate cookie that’s easy on the sweetness (fair warning, the black food dye will color your tongue).

If lemon is your favorite, try the Glazed and Confused. This lemon sugar cookie with a lemon glaze is bright and super citrusy. Breaüxdoo’s Hollywood Diet is a chewy peanut butter cookie topped with chocolate ganache and bits of Butterfinger — it’s equal bits salty and sweet and completely decadent.

TWISTED SUGAR

2009 E. 29th Ave.; twistedsugar.com

What we got: Sprinkles sugar, Swizzle sugar, oatmeal chocolate chip; $2.75 each

Twisted Sugar has a bright, cozy interior with plenty of seating. Many of this Utah-based chain’s offerings are based around its sugar cookie, so if you enjoy a sweet chewy treat, the options are numerous! We tried the Swizzle sugar, a sugar cookie topped with coconut frosting, raspberry drizzle and a fresh lime wedge. The coconut frosting was super tasty, and the raspberry brightened it up. On the same sugar cookie base, we also tried the Sprinkle sugar, featuring cotton candy frosting topped with sprinkles. This cotton candy flavor is legit! It tasted like childhood. Lastly, I gave the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie a go. This isn’t oat-forward but gives the cookie a good chew, and it’s a great balance of sweet and salt.

As the region welcomes a few popular chain cookie bakeries, we set out to sample local mainstays and more

STOVER

Rocket Bakery’s cookies are locally beloved. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

FOOD | ROUND UP COOKIE CO.

1028 N. Hamilton St., cookieco.com

What we got: Chocolate chip, brookie, caramel popcorn; $4 each

Cookie Co. is not kidding around. You can go in and grab cookies to go, or pull into their drive-thru near the Gonzaga University campus. Each week, Cookie Co. switches up their offerings, baking only four types of cookies with one weekly mainstay, the original chocolate chip. Cookie Co.’s were the biggest cookies of the bunch — you could take four days to eat each one, or share with three pals.

The chocolate chip was dense, chewy, salty and sweet, boasting a mouthful of chocolate in each bite. The brookie was a personal favorite of the lineup, part original chocolate chip, part brownie — it was hard to put down. Not too sweet, not too chocolatey, I wish they had it every week.

The last cookie we tried was a crowd favorite. The caramel popcorn has a caramel cookie base, a thick caramel popcorn frosting and a crunchy piece of caramel corn on top. It was salty, sweet, chewy and tasted exactly like caramel corn. Cookie Co. is part of a national chain, and Spokane’s store is locally owned by husband-wife team Adam Le and Katie Huynh.

CRUMBL

7808 N. Division St., crumblcookies.com

What we got: Milk chocolate chip, classic pink sugar, original with M&M’s; $4 each Ahhhhh Crumbl. No more driving to Coeur d’Alene for a massive sweet treat. Crumbl’s new North Division location is packed with employees, working endlessly to fulfill cookie orders as they pour in online and at the counter. Cookies are delivered warm and picture perfect. Like Cookie Co., Crumbl switches up its offerings every week with six featured flavors. Their mainstays are milk chocolate chip and classic pink frosted cookies. We tried their original featuring M&Ms (shown at left), and it was perfect: crispy outside, chewy inside, sweet crunchy bits of M&Ms throughout. Crumbl’s milk chocolate chip cookie was sweet, thick, chewy and just this side of underbaked. (I won’t tell Paul Hollywood if you won’t.) The pink frosted cookie is a sweet vanilla sugar base topped with a huge dollop of almondflavored pink frosting. It’s a classic taste with the perfect frosting to cookie ratio. n

“C IS FOR COOKIE,” CONTINUED...

Ea t local . Che w slowly. E ar n big.

Details at stcu.org/bonus.

*Bonus points promotion runs January 1 – March 31, 2023, and applies to purchases made with your consumer rewards credit card at your favorite casual or fine dining restaurants and bars. Fast food restaurants and food delivery purchases not eligible. Limited to $2,500 in qualifying purchases, or up to 7,500 bonus points. No limit to number of standard earned points allowed. Bonus points vary depending on which STCU rewards card you use. Standard Rewards cards earn up to 4x points; Premier Rewards card earn up to 5x points. To earn 5x points, get 3x bonus points using your STCU Premier Rewards and another 2x points by selecting “Restaurants” in advance as one of your two spending categories. Points are typically awarded within three business days after your qualifying transaction posts. Earned points on purchases never expire, with at least one purchase every 24 months. Bonus points expire one year from date awarded. All loans subject to approval.

We’ll leave that up to you — but wherever you end up, the points are on us. Earn up to 5x points when you use your STCU rewards credit card at qualifying restaurants and bars through March 31. *

Scream Boyfriends, Ranked By Murderability

With Scream VI hitting theaters, we take a few slashes at the franchise’s bad beaus

BY SADIE DUPUIS

Across the slasher franchise’s 26-year run, Scream has earned some devoted fans. Some of us are drawn in by its Bowie-sharp meta commentary on film, media and celebrity. Others love masked killer Ghostface’s unconventionally creative murders — or the slapstick nature of his clumsy stumbles when he frequently fails to nail his target. Starring Neve Campbell as five-time final girl Sidney Prescott, Courteney Cox as spiky telejournalist-turned-hit author Gale Weathers, and Jenna Ortega as “elevated horror” savant Tara Carpenter, maybe you come to Scream for its thoughtful character development — which makes each murder cut even deeper. But you’d be hard pressed to find someone who watches Scream for its boyfriends.

In advance of this week’s Scream VI release, we’ve ranked 10 Scream boyfriends by a very normal criteria for assessing significant others — did they deserve to be murdered by Ghostface? And how much did they deserve to be murdered by Ghostface? Though we left out a couple of the series’ BFs — like John Milton (Wes Craven’s eviscerating critique of Harvey Weinstein) and Cotton Weary (the franchise’s fame-obsessed fall guy who briefly dated Sidney’s mom) — all of the heavy hitters are here. Read on to find out which ones we wish Ghostface had spared, and which ones we wish we could’ve gutted ourselves. With the heavy disclaimer that no one here at The Inlander would ever don a Ghostface mask… we swear

DEWEY RILEY (DAVID ARQUETTE)

ACAB excludes this ice-cream loving, Barney Fife-ish deputy. Across five movies and as many Ghostface killing sprees, gentle Dewey crushed on, proposed to and finally married Gale Weath-

ers (Arquette met Cox on the set of Scream and later wed IRL). Despite a brief Scream 3 interlude in which he dated Parker Posey’s Jennifer Jolie — the actress who portrays Gale in the series’ super-meta Stab flicks — Dewey stayed firmly Team Gale, even after their 18-year marriage came to a stop In Scream 5 (officially, 2022’s fifth installment is just titled Scream, but c’mon), Dewey met his own tragic end, stabbed by teen Ghostface Amber Freeman while he was distracted by an iPhone notification. A cautionary tale — don’t text in the presence of a masked killer! Murderability: 0/10 — Definitively non-murderable. RIP, Dewdrop.

9

DEREK FELDMAN (JERRY O’CONNELL)

Brainstorming a suspect list for Scream 2’s campus killings, Woodsboro’s leading horror buff Randy Meeks dubs pre-med student Derek Feldman “the obvious boyfriend.” The college sweetheart of Sidney Prescott, Derek seemed too good to be true. But Derek was good. He serenades Sid Top Gun style in the school cafeteria, and even gifts her a necklace bearing his Greek letters — resulting in an ass-kicking from his fellow frat bros, whose retributive hazing leaves him vulnerable to murder by Ghostface. As she mourned his loss, Sidney continued to wear Derek’s necklace through the end of Scream 3 Murderability: 0/10 — Singing in public is a little bit corny, but a non-murderable offense.

8 MARK KINCAID (PATRICK DEMPSEY)

Scream 3’s killings targeted the actors shooting the latest Stab, and Hollywood born-and-raised homicide detective Mark Kincaid got assigned to the case. Though Sidney briefly suspected him as the killer, a flirtatious rap-

port drew the pair close, and Kincaid ultimately saved her from a Ghostface attack. He got himself stabbed in the process, but thankfully, this boyfriend survived. The final scene of Scream 3 showed the pair watching a movie on a double date with Gale and Dewey. And while he doesn’t show up in Scream 4, Kincaid is mentioned in Scream 5 as Sidney’s husband, and the father of her three children.

Murderability: 1/10 — It doesn’t seem like the best idea to let your spouse and the co-parent of your children take on Ghostface alone, again and again.

7 STEVE ORTH (KEVIN PATRICK WALLS)

He’s big and he plays football, and he’s the very first kill of the Scream franchise. The letterman jacket-clad BF of Drew Barrymore’s Casey Becker, we only ever see Steve duct taped to a chair in Casey’s backyard, as she pleads for both of their lives during her iconic opening scene with Ghostface. We don’t learn enough about Steve to rank him high on the murderability scale, but Casey appears to flirt with Ghostface — a creepy, cold-calling stranger — and initially denies having a boyfriend at all. Deserving of a gutting? Probably not. A perfect boyfriend? Probably not that, either.

Murderability: 2/10 — Whatever relationship crimes he committed to get his existence denied at least make him a little bit murderable.

6 PHIL STEVENS (OMAR EPPS)

The opening murder of Scream 2 takes place at a free Stab screening, as Phil — eavesdropping in a toilet stall — is knifed in the ear through the divider wall. Ouch! Ghostface chose Phil for his surname, which paralleled Steve Orth’s first name — a pretty random M.O., but we’ll

Some fictional dudes just deserve to die.

OPENING IN THEATERS

65

A futuristic space pilot (Adam Driver) crash lands on an unknown planet only to discover that he’s actually on Earth. The sci-fi catch? It’s Earth 65 million years ago. He and a young girl who was the only other crash survivor must devise a way to get home while not being killed by dinosaurs. Rated PG-13

CHAMPIONS

In a comedy that attempts to pull on

the heartstrings, Marcus (Woody Harrelson) has big coaching dreams, but after he gets arrested for drunk driving, he must do community service coaching hoops for a team of adults with mental disabilities (who may end up teching him some lessons). Rated PG-13 Read a full review at Inlander.com

JUNIPER

This New Zealand drama finds a surly alcoholic grandma (Charlotte Rampling)

take it. Like most Scream casualties, Phil was an innocent who didn’t deserve to die. But he did drag his girlfriend Maureen (Jada Pinkett Smith) to Stab, despite her clearly stated hatred of horror movies’ violence, sexism and anti-Blackness. Unfortunately, Maureen became Scream 2’s second victim, never making it to her morning biology exam — thanks a lot, Phil!

Murderability: 3/10 — Date night movies should be agreed upon by both partners so everyone has a fun time! Keep this in mind if you want to be non-murderable in your relationships.

5 TREVOR SHELDON (NICO TORTORELLA)

After cheating on Sidney Prescott’s niece Jill Roberts — one of Scream 4’s Ghostfaces, played by literal Scream Queen Emma Roberts — Trevor Sheldon found himself iced out by his ex, elaborately framed for mass murder, and ultimately put to death via shots to (oof) the groin and the head. A humorless bully at worst, Trevor was otherwise pretty harmless in the grand scheme of Scream boyfriends — and he never donned the Ghostface costume, unlike all the murderable boyfriends yet to come.

Murderability: 4/10 — Dumped a primary antagonist and didn’t even make her famous.

4 CHARLIE WALKER (RORY KULKIN)

Finally, some murderable boyfriends who murder! Scream 4’s preeminent cinephile seemed harmless at first, planning Woodsboro High’s epic Stab-a-thon with his best friend Robbie, and sweetly falling for fellow genre nut Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) over a shared obsession for slasher flicks. But Wes Craven never let us trust a film buff after Randy Meeks. As the secret beau of Jill Roberts, Charlie perpetrated about half of Ghostface’s killings, including heartlessly stabbing his BFFL. In an incel-adjacent move, he also stabbed Kirby for taking too long to reciprocate his affections. Luckily, Scream 5 confirmed Kirby’s survival, and Panettiere will be reprising the role in Scream VI — hopefully with a better, non-murdering boyfriend in tow.

Murderability: 8/10 — As the President of the Cinema Club, this guy should probably not have been murdering so many of his fellow club members.

STU MACHER (MATTHEW LILLARD)

Clownish Stu acted as accomplice on the original Woodsboro killings, masterminded by his bestie Billy Loomis. And while the narrative gist of those murders had more to do with Billy’s mommy issues and misplaced thirst for revenge, Stu did a fair amount of slicing and dicing on his own — including killing his ex-girlfriend

with a broken leg and an eclectic past being cared for by her teenage grandson. Not Rated At the Magic Lantern

THE QUIET GIRL

A nominee for Best International Feature, this wildly acclaimed Irish language drama finds empathetic grace in the small-scale story of a reserved 9-year-old girl sent away to live with a foster family for the summer. Not Rated At AMC River Park Square

Casey Becker, presumably for dumping him, and deading his final sweetheart Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) with a garage door. Pressed for a motive, Stu pleaded peer pressure, claiming he was “far too sensitive” to dream up a massacre on his own. Though he lacked the brain cells to hatch a slasher spree by his lonesome, Stu still ranks high on our murderability scale — something Sidney took care of by electrocuting him with a TV.

Murderability: 9/10 — Extra point for complaining about wanting to see Jamie Lee Curtis topless while in the middle of doing murders.

RICHIE KIRSCH (JACK QUAID)

Even before he started his Scream 5 death spree, Richie represented the absolute worst of obsessive franchise fans. Incensed over the Rian Johnson-directed Stab 8, he took to Reddit to rage post, where he met equally deranged Woodsboro resident Amber Freeman. The two began to date, hatching a plan to create a real-life Stab sequel, which entailed Richie seeking out the secret daughter of Billy Loomis to surreptitiously become her boyfriend. That secret daughter is new series star Samantha Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), and in one of his final scenes Dewey sagely warned her to never trust the love interest. Richie proves Dewey right when he stabs Sam in the stomach — but luckily, she survives and takes down her beau thanks to beyond-the-grave coaching from the hallucinated ghost of Billy Loomis.

Murderability: 9/10 — A Reddit Boyfriend is one thing, but a Reddit Boyfriend who serial kills? Extremely murderable.

BILLY LOOMIS (SKEET ULRICH)

Scream’s biggest bad concocted the original Woodsboro Murders after a convoluted chain of personal events; Sidney’s mom cheated with Billy’s dad, causing Billy’s mom to split town, causing Billy to… do murders? Reasonable! This shaky motive drove Billy to intentionally ruin his girlfriend Sidney’s life, first killing off her mom, then her friends, then attempting (and failing) to ax both Sid and her dad. Somewhere in all that scheming he found time to sleep with her, an attempt to mess up her virgin status and lessen her chances of surviving under the sex-negative rules of horror’s final girl trope. Billy’s deranged actions inspired five sequels’ worth of copycats — including his mom in Scream 2 — and while his post-mortem appearances retcon him as paternal, we still think Billy takes the cake for Woodsboro’s most murderable.

Murderability 10/10 — Billy Loomis is the reason the boyfriend murderability scale was invented. n Scream VI opens in theaters March 10.

MAGIC LANTERN THEATER

FRI 3/10 - THU 3/16

NOW OPENING: CHAMPIONS JUNIPER

FOR PRIVATE RESERVATIONS EMAIL: magiclanternevents@gmail.com

TICKETS: $10-11 NOW SERVING BEER & WINE

FOR SHOWTIMES: 509-209-2383 or MAGICLANTERNONMAIN.COM

HASENPFEFFER • MAR 10-11 • MOOSE LOUNGE

HASENPFEFFER

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL STRESS DREAMS

There will always be a place for angst in rock music. While the genre isn’t only about a release of one’s inner hangups, it certainly excels at offering a wide variety of ways to vent. Metal bands pummel feeling into a pulp. Punks speedily screech their anxieties away. Singer-songwriters wear their troubles on their sleeves as a way to keep them from simmering inside.

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

Toronto indie rock quartet Alvvays takes a slightly different approach. Led by singer/ guitarist Molly Rankin, the group sorts through the angst of millennial young adulthood with a dreamy composure.

INDIE ROCK

Alvvays has married walls of indie rock sound with gorgeous anxiety to become one of the most acclaimed bands on the planet

Alvvays is alvvays a good time (Molly Rankin, center). NORMAN WONG PHOTO

Friday, March 17

Debuting with 2014’s self-titled Alvvays, the group arrived as an already tightly honed force, swaying waves of bright and hazy sound buoyed by the casual pop sweetness of Rankin’s vocals. Rankin’s lyrical stance touched on a certain adriftness that’s certainly relatable to folks in their late 20s, early 30s — not feeling totally lost, but feeling like you don’t have hardly anything figured out. A song like “Archie, Marry Me” examined the apprehension with societal pressures for settling down with both sincerity and a coy cuttingness (“So, honey, take me by the hand and we can sign some papers / Forget the invitations, floral arrangements and bread makers”).

That trend continued on 2017’s stellar Antisocialies, which cleared up some of the reverb-y fog to present a more lush pop polish. Be it relationship foibles (“In Undertow,” “Not My Baby”), yearning for love and reciprocation (“Dreams Tonight”), or even being open about being wildly depressed and disconnected while trying to discover flickering moments of beauty in the face of these states (“Forget About Life”), Alvvays finds a way to address millennial angst without the melodramatic mess.

While top-flight contemporaries like Phoebe Bridgers tend to dwell in the sadness of the confusion around them, Alvvays tends to analyze situations with a level head and tries to figure out a way through. If anything, the group’s heady approach to modern anxieties is similar to how Talking Heads sorted through ’80s White yuppie hang-ups, but Alvvays does it with a more approachable warmth, and no trace of David Byrne’s sometimes arty, Coastal elite distance. But Rankin certainly basks in making societal digs with a cheery demeanor and her tongue planted firmly in cheek.

“I do find it kind of fun to be scathing without even knowing at times,” says Rankin. “That’s sort of like the ultimate approach. But also, just try not to bring a ton of baggage onto a record. And sort of take responsibility for the character’s own decisions in a way that they can poke fun at themselves and also be, you know, so self-critical. And that perspective just seems a little bit more interesting to me than, you know, resenting others or something.”

Alvvays continues to try to make sense of our times on its 2022 album Blue Rev. This time around the group leaned heavily on creating continual wall of shoegaze-y instrumental noise (“Belinda Says”, “Easy on Your Own”) as Rankin tackles topics like insufferable internet dudes (“Very Online Guy”) and spits venom at society’s pressures for women to fit in stereotypical roles (“Pomeranian Spinster”).

“[That wall of sound] is something that we chase a lot, and something that we did early on with our band, but to strike the balance of that with the vocals and getting the drums to sing during the fills and have the keyboards with the right volume, it gets a very tough balance to strike, at least for us,” says Rankin. “And so, sometimes things can come out sounding a little bit [traditional] or something in our journey to seize that sort of, like, woozy, droney, constant sound. It just takes a long time to find that proper sweet spot.”

The critical response to Blue Rev has been fairly overwhelming. Stereogum and Exclaim!

named it the best album of 2022, Pitchfork and Paste both had it ranked No. 3 in their year-end lists, and Rolling Stone and The New York Times both cited it as one of the dozen best albums of the year. While Alvvays has been a beloved group since their debut — always earning raves and winning the Juno for Best Alternative Album for Antisocialites — the outpouring of adoration has bowled over the band.

“I think it’s pretty difficult to thread the needle of resonating across the board with a guitar album now,” Rankin says. “So I’m just overwhelmed about how kind people have been about the record. But, you know, it was a very painful process of creating. It took a really long time. We didn’t know if we were still going to be able to be a band. We didn’t know if people would think we are crazy with all the little idiosyncratic decisions that we grew to love over the years. [laughs] That takes time to sort of strike people in the same way.”

“But we’ve had so much time with the little weirdness — sometimes it can be off-putting on the first listen or something,” she continues.

“But I’m aware that it’s also a pop record, mainly, offset by some noisiness. And I really do try to make every song sing and elevate with fun, emotional shifts that strike me as moving and believed.”

The painful process of creating Blue Rev that Rankin mentions is no overstatement. At one point a thief broke into her apartment and stole a recorder with demos of new tunes on it. The following day a basement flood ruined most of the band’s equipment. Alvvays’ rhythm section had a change over. Oh, and there was the whole COVID pandemic shutting everything — including basic band band rehearsals — down for a while. But all the bumps and delays helped shape Blue Rev into the heralded album that it ultimately became.

“I really didn’t feel like if we had the record ready earlier, it would have been the right time to do that. We wouldn’t have been able to tour. We would’ve canceled everything constantly,” Rankin says. “And also, we wouldn’t have worked with [producer] Shawn [Everett]. And he was such a fun, expansive presence for us — such an experimental guy that got us outside of our own heads… everything seemed to work out and I’m feeling quite Zen about it.””

Being the same mid-30s age as Rankin, I’ve found getting lost listening to Alvvays songs can often seem like a beautiful abstract stress dream. But unlike the actual ones that come at night, Rankin’s there to serve as a guide to ease me through the rough spots with the calming confidence of her melodic voice, dashes of biting wit and undergirding Canadian niceness. She doesn’t have all the answers, but she’s unwavering in her commitment to sort through all the messiness with a level head.

It’s alvvays nice to not feel alone. n

IRISH WEEK MARCH 11-17, 2023

SATURDAY, MARCH 11 TH

43rd Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade | Tim’s speech and Doors Open 9am | Bagpipers at 2 pm and 7pm

Live music 10am – 4pm | Irish DJ Greg 5pm- 11pm Irish toast, sing-a-longs and Guinness giveaways

$5 Cover charge

SUNDAY, MARCH 12 TH

Live Irish music 6-9pm - FREE

MONDAY, MARCH 13 TH - CLOSED

TUESDAY, MARCH 14 TH

Corned Beef Tuesday - $1 off Corned Beef Reubens “Tales from a Modern St. Patrick” talk by Tom Keefe 6pm - FREE

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15 TH

Ides of March - $1 off green beer | Hand-made Butte Pasties $13.95 | Irish Sing-a-long 7pm FREE

THURSDAY, MARCH 16 TH No-Li Thursday - $2 off all No-Li Beers all Day | Bean Pot Toss for prizes all day FREE

FRIDAY, MARCH 17 TH ST. PATRICK’S DAY!

Doors open at 11 am | Live Irish music | Irish Dancers | Bagpipers at 7pm | Irish DJ Greg McGuire 6pmmidnight | Sing-a-longs, giveaways – Guinness on Tap

$5 cover charge

PROG-FUNK POLYRHYTHMICS

While vibes-heavy, lyric-free music might be predominantly the realm of EDM these days, one shouldn’t pass up the more tactile experience of a live band creating such sonic landscapes. Seattle septet Polyrhythmics have spent over a dozen years blending psychedelic funk, progressive jazz, Afrobeat and R&B to deliver groove-heavy blasts of sound. Song to song, things can shift from being led by deep basslines, shredding guitar, the popping horn section or even some melodic flute. The group’s energetic live shows are great whether you’re in a dancing mood or want to partake in some chemically aided vibing out.

— SETH SOMMERFELD

Polyrhythmics • Fri, March 10 at 8 pm • $20-$11 • 21+ • Lucky You Lounge • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. • luckyyoulounge.com

Thursday, 3/9

CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, Thursday Night Jam

CHECKERBOARD TAPROOM, Weathered Shepherds

J DAVENPORT GRAND HOTEL, Jason Evans

HIGHBALL A MODERN SPEAKEASY, Zonky Jazz Band

J HISTORIC DAVENPORT HOTEL, Riley Grey

LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Kolton Moore & The Clever Few

J QQ SUSHI & KITCHEN, Just Plain Darin

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Invasion!

J THE STEAM PLANT, Just Plain Darin

ZOLA, The Desperate Eights

Friday, 3/10

AK ASIAN RESTAURANT, James Motley

BIGFOOT PUB, Karma’s Circle

BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, Haze

CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, Rusty Jackson Band

CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA & SPIRITS, Steve Livingston

CURLEY’S, Tamarack Ridge Band

J DAVENPORT GRAND HOTEL, Lyle Morse

THE DRAFT ZONE, No Soap Radio, Zoramena, The Red Books

HIGHBALL A MODERN SPEAKEASY, Ron Greene Band

J HISTORIC DAVENPORT HOTEL, Rachel Bade-McMurphy Quartet

IRON HORSE (CDA), Dangerous Type

J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Polyrhythmics

MOOSE LOUNGE, Hasenpfeffer

NEATO BURRITO, Snacks at Midnight, Rice

NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), The Real McCoy

EMO THE APPLESEED CAST

While emo might’ve come to the mainstream via groups with strong roots in pop punk music, Midwest emo was a very disparate aesthetic. While still drawing influence from earlier acts like Sunny Day Real Estate, Midwest emo comes closer to an indie rock feel: big atmospheric riffs, songs heavy on building ambiance, a bit less lyrically melodramatic. When groups like American Football are in a groove, they almost seem more like heady jam bands than angsty rockers. That holds true for the Appleseed Cast, the Kansas-bred act that’s consistently evolved their music from record to record since emerging on the scene in the late ’90s. Rather than bursts of staccato emotion, the Appleseed Cast shows sweep you away in waves of cascading sound.

— SETH SOMMERFELD

The Appleseed Cast, Pit • Wed, March 15 at 8 pm • $15-$20 • 21+ • Lucky You Lounge • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. • luckyyoulounge.com

OLD MILL BAR AND GRILL, Wild Wooly Duo

OSPREY RESTAURANT & BAR, Land of Voices

J PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Brite Moments

THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Just Plain Darin

SPOKANE VALLEY EAGLES, Stagecoach West

Saturday, 3/11

BACKWOODS WHISKEY BAR, The Black Jack Band

BIGFOOT PUB, Karma’s Circle

BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, Haze

CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, Tuck Foster & The Tumbling Dice

CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA & SPIRITS, Steve Livingston

CURLEY’S, Tamarack Ridge Band

THE DRAFT ZONE, Rosie Cerquone Band, RCA Music

J THE GRAIN SHED - CEDAR TAP HOUSE, Pizza and Music Night

HIGHBALL A MODERN SPEAKEASY, SideStep with Max Daniels

J HISTORIC DAVENPORT HOTEL, Rachel Bade-McMurphy Quartet

IRON HORSE (CDA), Dangerous Type

KNITTING FACTORY, Bad Bunny Birthday Bash

LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Hiss Golden Messenger

MOOSE LOUNGE, Hasenpfeffer

NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), The Real McCoy

J NOAH’S CANTEEN, Just Plain Darin

OSPREY RESTAURANT & BAR, Sean Kavanaugh

J PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Brian Jacobs

J PONDEROSA BAR AND GRILL, Steve Starkey Duo

J REPUBLIC BREWING CO., Clarence Gallagher, Dani Bacon

SIRINYA’S THAI RESTAURANT & LOUNGE, Pamela Jean ZOLA, Blake Braley

Sunday, 3/12

J HISTORIC DAVENPORT HOTEL, Paul Grove HOGFISH, Open Mic

Monday, 3/13

J THE BAD SEED, The Imagine Collective

J EICHARDT’S PUB, Monday Night Blues Jam with John Firshi

J J KNITTING FACTORY, Alvvays, Disq RED ROOM LOUNGE, Open Mic Night

Tuesday, 3/14

J THE BIG DIPPER, Bystander, Midnight Drive, False Visions

LITZ’S PUB & EATERY, Shuffle Dawgs ZOLA, The Night Mayors

Wednesday, 3/15

THE DRAFT ZONE, The Draft Zone Open Mic HIGHBALL A MODERN SPEAKEASY, The Happiness

J HISTORIC DAVENPORT HOTEL, Dr. Don Goodwin

J KNITTING FACTORY, Soulfly, Bodybox, Drift KNITTING FACTORY, Gimme Gimme Disco

J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, The Appleseed Cast, PIT RED ROOM LOUNGE, The Roomates

J SAFARI ROOM, Lyle Morse SOUTH PERRY LANTERN, Jason Evans ZOLA, Runaway Lemonade

J = THE INLANDER RECOMMENDS THIS SHOW J = ALL AGES SHOW

Coming Up ...

J J BING CROSBY THEATER, Artemidorus: Pink Floyd Tribute, March 23, 8 pm.

J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Old 97’s, Caitlin Rose, March 23, 8 pm.

J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Bryan John Appleby, March 25, 8 pm.

J THE FOX THEATER, Jerry Cantrell, Thunderpussy, March 31, 8 pm.

J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Black Belt Eagle Scout, April 1, 8 pm.

J J THE FOX THEATER, Epic Queen, April 7, 8 pm.

J J SPOKANE ARENA, Cypress Hill, Dr. Green Thumbs, Too $hort, Do Or Die, April 20, 7:30 pm.

J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, The Beaches, April 22, 8 pm.

J J THE BIG DIPPER, The HIRS Collective, Simp, Blacktracks, Spooky, April 25, 7:30 pm.

J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Cursive performing ‘Domestica’, April 25, 8 pm.

J J SPOKANE ARENA, Shania Twain, Lindsay Ell, April 28, 7:30 pm.

J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Mannequin Pussy, Margaritas Podridas, May 8, 8 pm.

J J KNITTING FACTORY, Hippo Campus, Charly Bliss, May 10, 8 pm.

J J EVANS BROTHERS COFFEE, Dario Ré: ‘Colorwise’ EP Release Show & Art Exhibition, May 12, 7 pm.

J J KNITTING FACTORY, Joseph, May 16, 8 pm.

J J RIVERFRONT PARK, Spokane Pride Parade & Rainbow Festival, June 10, 12-9 pm.

J J SPOKANE ARENA, Chris Stapleton, Marty Stuart, Allen Stone, June 15, 7 pm.

J J GORGE AMPHITHEATER, Beyond Wonderland, June 17 and June 18.

J J THE FOX THEATER, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, | Deer Tick, July 6, 7:30 pm.

J J PANIDA THEATER, Graham Nash, July 7, 8 pm.

J J PAVILION AT RIVERFRONT, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Ziggy Marley, Mavis Staples, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, July 26, 6 pm.

J J PAVILION AT RIVERFRONT, The Head and the Heart, Father John Misty, Miya Folick, Aug. 6, 6-10 pm.

J J THE FOX THEATER, Jinkx Monsoon: Everything at Stake, Aug. 13, 8 pm.

J J PAVILION AT RIVERFRONT, Noah Kahan, Joy Oladokun, Aug. 18, 7-10 pm.

MUSIC | VENUES

219 LOUNGE • 219 N. First Ave., Sandpoint • 208-263-5673

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS • 4705 N. Fruit Hill Rd., Spokane Valley • 509-927-9463

BABY BAR • 827 W. First Ave. • 509-847-1234

BARRISTER WINERY • 1213 W. Railroad Ave. • 509-465-3591

BEE’S KNEES WHISKY BAR • 1324 W. Lancaster Rd.., Hayden • 208-758-0558

BERSERK • 125 S. Stevens St. • 509-315-5101

THE BIG DIPPER • 171 S. Washington St. • 509-863-8098

BIGFOOT PUB • 9115 N. Division St. • 509-467-9638

BING CROSBY THEATER • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-227-7638

BLACK DIAMOND • 9614 E. Sprague Ave. • 509891-8357

BOLO’S BAR & GRILL • 116 S. Best Rd., Spokane Valley • 509-891-8995

BOOMERS CLASSIC ROCK BAR • 18219 E. Appleway Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-368-9847

BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB • 201 S. Main St., Moscow • 208-596-0887

THE BULL HEAD • 10211 S. Electric St., Four Lakes • 509-838-9717

CHAN’S RED DRAGON • 1406 W. Third Ave. • 509-838-6688

COEUR D’ALENE CASINO • 37914 S. Nukwalqw St., Worley • 800-523-2464

COEUR D’ALENE CELLARS • 3890 N. Schreiber Way, Coeur d’Alene • 208-664-2336

CRUISERS BAR & GRILL • 6105 W Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-446-7154

CURLEY’S HAUSER JUNCTION • 26433 W. Hwy. 53, Post Falls • 208-773-5816

EICHARDT’S PUB • 212 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-263-4005

FIRST INTERSTATE CENTER FOR THE ARTS • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • 509-279-7000

FOX THEATER • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. •

509-624-1200

IRON HORSE • 407 E. Sherman, Coeur d’Alene • 208-667-7314

IRON HORSE BAR & GRILL • 11105 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-926-8411

JOHN’S ALLEY • 114 E. Sixth St., Moscow • 208-883-7662

KNITTING FACTORY • 911 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-244-3279

LEFTBANK WINE BAR • 108 N. Washington St. • 509-315-8623

LUCKY YOU LOUNGE • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. • 509-474-0511

MARYHILL WINERY • 1303 W. Summit Pkwy. • 509-443-3832

THE MASON JAR • 101 F St., Cheney • 509-359-8052

MAX AT MIRABEAU • 1100 N. Sullivan Rd., Spokane Valley • 509-922-6252

MILLIE’S • 28441 Hwy 57, Priest Lake • 208-443-0510

MOOSE LOUNGE • 401 E. Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene • 208-664-7901

MOOTSY’S • 406 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-838-1570

NASHVILLE NORTH • 6361 W. Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-457-9128

NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO • 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights • 877-871-6772

NYNE BAR & BISTRO • 232 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-474-1621

PEND D’OREILLE WINERY • 301 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-265-8545

THE PODIUM • 511 W. Dean Ave. • 509-279-7000

POST FALLS BREWING CO. • 112 N. Spokane St., Post Falls • 208-773-7301

RAZZLE’S BAR & GRILL • 10325 N. Government Way, Hayden • 208-635-5874

RED ROOM LOUNGE • 521 W. Sprague Ave. •

509-838-7613

THE RIDLER PIANO BAR • 718 W. Riverside Ave. • 509-822-7938

SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE • 1004 S. Perry St. • 208-664-8008

SPOKANE ARENA • 720 W. Mallon Ave. • 509-279-7000

SOUTH PERRY LANTERN • 12303 E. Trent Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-473-9098

STEAM PLANT • 159 S. Lincoln St. • 509-777-3900

STORMIN’ NORMAN’S SHIPFACED SALOON • 12303 E. Trent Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-862-4852

TRANCHE • 705 Berney Dr., Wall Walla • 509-526-3500

ZOLA • 22 W. Main Ave. • 509-624-2416

JINGLE CONTEST

WINNING IS JUST THE BEGINNING! $5,000 in Cash Prizes!

NW musicians, songwriters and those with a creative musical bent of any music style are invited to create a new jingle for the Coeur d’Alene Casino.

Jingle submissions must include and end with the familiar lyrics “Winning is just the beginning at the Coeur d’Alene Casino!”

To enter, submit your 30 to 120 seconds MPG3 or MPG4 file by MARCH 16TH, 2023 at cdacasino.com/jingle

Winner(s) will be announced at the Coeur d’Alene Casino on MARCH 31ST, 2023 AT 5 PM See cdacasino.com/jingle for compete entry instructions and contest rules.

Spokane String Quartet

PERFORMING MUSIC BY CAROLINE SHAW

PHILIP GLASS • MAX BRUCH

3 P.M. SUNDAY MARCH 19 BING CROSBY THEATER

ALL SEATS GENERAL ADMISSION ADULTS $25 SENIORS $20 UNDER 18 AND STUDENTS WITH ID FREE

www.spokanestringquartet.org

COMMUNITY GET YOUR GREEN ON

It’s time to grab your favorite green attire and shamrocks for Spokane’s 43rd annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick began organizing this event in 1978 as a fun way to honor those with Irish ancestry and to give back to the community by providing donations to local nonprofits. The parade starts near the First Interstate Center for the Arts and weaves through the streets of downtown to the final destination of City Hall. The parade occurs every Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day, but it took a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Luckily, it’s back in full swing and is kicking off Spokane’s St. Paddy’s Day festivities.

— SUMMER SANDSTROM

St. Patrick’s Day Parade • Sat, March 11 at 12 pm • Free • Downtown Spokane • friendlysonsofstpatrick.com

GET LISTED!

Submit events online at Inlander.com/getlisted or email relevant details to getlisted@inlander.com. We need the details one week prior to our publication date.

PERFORMANCE ARTS SKATING QUEENS

What do you get when you mix a drag queen with a figure skater? Only the most incredible performance of your life! This special showcase at Eastern Washington University features all the usual glamor of a drag show, but with the added challenge of balancing on ice. Ten performers set out to dazzle audiences with their stunts, beauty and killer moves. All performances fit the event’s fairy tale theme, so there are sure to be some princesses and fairy godmothers tearing up the ice in stunning gowns. This event also doubles as EWU alumni pride night (see facebook.com/EWUAlumni for special ticket options). In addition to all this fabulousness, all proceeds benefit the Spokane AIDS network.

— MADISON PEARSON

Drag

VISUAL ARTS CIRCULAR CELEBRATION

Math isn’t for everybody. It certainly isn’t for me. Why do you think I became a writer? Every year when Pi Day rolls around on March 14 (3.14), I often feel a little left out due to my very general understanding of math. However, that doesn’t stop me from celebrating. This event caters to the more art-minded Pi Day lovers, like myself. In collaboration with Art Salvage, Spark Central is inviting the public to celebrate Pi{e} Day by participating in circular arts and crafts like yarn weaving, creating DIY sun catchers and more. But where does the pie come in, you ask? Well, the lovely people at Spark Central are handing out individually wrapped hand pies while supplies last. Go forth and celebrate all things circular, sans the dizzying array of digits.

— MADISON PEARSON

Pi{e}Day • Tue, March 14 from 5-7 pm • Free • Spark Central • 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. • spark-central.org

COMEDY LOL, CATS

To be clear, Zoltan Kaszas doesn’t exclusively tell cat jokes, but his rise to viral stardom status was, in fact, due to his cat-centric Dry Bar Comedy special recorded back in 2017, for which he regaled the audience with anecdotes about his fat cat named Jessica. Being labeled a “cat comedian” really set in for the Hungarian-born comic during one of his last visits to Spokane, when he says the whole club was filled with “women in cardigans.” And after each of those shows, they “lined up to show him pictures of their cats.” While it’s safe to say Kaszas will probably share a cat tail tale or two when he returns to Spokane this weekend, his full set won’t be solely feline-focused. Even so, as a fellow cat lady who loves to laugh, I feel a call to action is needed, and y’all better wear your best cat sweaters.

— CHEY SCOTT

Zoltan Kaszas • Fri, March 10 at 7:30 and 10:15 pm; Sat March 11 at 7 and 9:45 pm • $22-$30 • Spokane Comedy Club • 315 W. Sprague Ave. • spokanecomedyclub.com • 509-318-9998

WORDS HARROWING TRUTHS

Whether you believe in miracles or not, it surely took some immeasurable combination of courage, hope, faith and even luck that Joseph Alexander, now 100 years old, survived the Holocaust. Since the 1960s, Alexander has made it his life’s mission to share what happened to him, in remembrance of his immediate family — among his parents and five siblings, he was the only survivor — and the more than 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II. Alexander, who was 16 when his family was rounded up in Poland, managed to survive being imprisoned at 12 different concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Dachau. While undoubtedly difficult for many to hear and comprehend, Alexander hopes that sharing the atrocities he witnessed ensures future generations know the truth of the Holocaust. Alexander’s Spokane visit is hosted by Chabad of Spokane County.

— CHEY SCOTT

Survival & Triumph: The Man Who Survived 12 Concentration Camps • Mon, March 13 from 7:30-9 pm • $15-$180 • Spokane Convention Center • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • jewishspokane.com • 509-443-0770

I SAW YOU

CAR ACCIDENTS SUCK OK, I get it. Car accidents suck. You wrecked your car on the corner of Maxwell and Monroe about a week or so ago, and you left all of your crashed car debris, even a whole front headlight and several pieces of your car, littered on the corner. You hit the pole all by yourself. You need to come back and pick up your mess. Why should the corner of my house look like trash because you can’t drive? Cheers to whoever you are, come pick up your mess.

A GENUINE NICE COMPLIMENT As winter ends a lot of spirits are down. Soon spring will come with the sunshine and the birds, and we’ll all be a happier bunch. Until then a kind word doesn’t cost you anything. If you see a lady wearing a sweater that you absolutely love, tell her “Nice sweater.” It’s not that hard. Or if you see a gentleman with a nice groomed beard, let him know his efforts on his beard show and it looks good. It won’t cost you anything to genuinely compliment your fellow man, and the smile that they give you will do your gloomy self wonders.

STATIC X CONCERT You: Cute brunette in a tan sweater rockin’ out. I never saw you drink or look at your phone. You knew every lyric to every song & were having the time of your life! Looked like you were with someone, but I would love to meet you. See you at the Knit!

CHEERS

MAGNANIMOUS PUBLICAN Thank you,

Tim, for enabling a wonderful three-nation reunion Thursday evening. Allowing us to commandeer the side room for our little group and then springing for our orders was a totally unexpected and astonishing largesse. The general ambiance of Irish conviviality in your establishment provided the backdrop for a truly memorable occasion. None of us will ever forget it and your open-handed hospitality. Irish blessings to you.

JEERS

CITY COUNCIL PRO-HOMELESS? According to a recent news blip on the radio, the Spokane City Council is planning to rezone a plot of land that currently has multiple mobile homes on it. A neighborhood where people have lived in homes they have owned for years. Now the city wants to rezone the land so land developers can come in and build apartments or businesses leaving the longtime occupants homeless. Apparently, as far as the City Council is concerned, just because you own a home doesn’t actually make it yours. I wonder how many council members’ pockets were lined by the land developers to get this rezoning passed. Again proving that the American dream of owning a home has been sold to the rich by those who the rich have bought and paid for. And people wonder why I hate politicians.

DISGRUNTLED POSTAL WORKER Jeers to the postal delivery person who crushed my package while forcing it into my mailbox. I laughed at my spouse when told the package couldn’t be removed, thinking this really never happens. I hope you’re not the same worker that I regularly wave to and offer my gratitude whenever we speak. Or the one I give bottles of water and coffee gift cards to. Also, shame for removing the website venue to submit concerns to. I know you don’t represent most of your co-workers, they would be so ashamed. If postal work is so bad, I’ll help you find another wellpaying job.

ELVIS: KING NOTHING Jeers to the Inlander for the article praising Elvis for his awareness of his cultural appropriation. The level of hero worship for Elvis by white people is pretty disgusting, and of course it plagues the white people of Spokane. When one white person does something black people do, they are given the title king. Nevermind the fact Elvis had multiple relationships with underage girls, he drugged Priscilla for sexual gratification, shot at his fiance, but he knew he was culturally appropriating so we must worship this white devil. It is

no coincidence a man known for cultural appropriation is called a king in the colonial dystopia we call America.

NIC BOARD’S KAMIKAZE MISSION The mindless majority on the North Idaho College board has recklessly put NIC accreditation at risk — why? Their arrogance and ignorance is more than a disgusting display; they pose

comment about the library has direct implications on your attitude toward the people of your own city: You complain of attempting to use the library, somehow stymied by “transients milling about” and “people sleep[ing] at a table or in a corner,” as if temperatures didn’t dip into the negative double digits in Spokane this winter, and thousands remain unhoused in

Idaho was famous for potatoes! Now we’re infamous for our drooling NIC “trustees” — a semicircle of jerks.

TAX REFORM NOW Since 2019, my property tax has increased 25 percent. The county sees assessed and market values as the same thing and taxes accordingly. We’re being punished for an out-of-control housing

a real threat to the future of Coeur d’Alene. NIC employs thousands of workers and contributes millions to the local economy. But the kamikaze pilots on the board bent on blowing up the school don’t give a damn about the consequences. Everyone here will suffer when unemployment soars, businesses shutter and young people flee the smoldering ruins of what was once a college campus. The far-right fanatics here will take no prisoners in their war on reason and sanity.

RE: DOWNTOWN LIBRARY To the person busy complaining about homeless people using the downtown library: Try to remember that libraries are institutions that serve the community, not just YOU. Libraries are critical to providing warmth, shelter and resources to unhoused individuals during the cold winter months. You’re worrying about not getting the best view, and they’re worrying about finding food, shelter, and care. Check yourself, and consider some empathy.

IGNORING THE ELEPHANT Jeers to the political establishment, the homeless industry and the media for ignoring the elephant in the room. What is the elephant? Here’s a hint: In 1950 there were about 500,000 inpatient mental health beds for a population of 155 million. Now in 2023, we have about 36,000 beds for a population of 330 million. That’s a per capita drop of about 97 percent. “Treating” severe mental illness by giving the patient prescriptions, a check and kicking them out into society is not helpful or caring for them or for society as a whole.

RE: DOWNTOWN LIBRARY Your ignorant

SOUND OFF 1. Visit Inlander.com/isawyou by 3 pm Monday. 2. Pick a category (I Saw You, You Saw Me, Cheers or Jeers). 3. Provide basic info: your name and email (so we know you’re real). 4. To connect via I Saw You, provide a non-identifying email to be included with your submission — like “petals327@yahoo.com,” not “j.smith@comcast.net.”

30th ANN. CELEBRATION

Fri. 3/10 vs Portland Winterhawks

Great prizes throughout the game courtesy of Coeur d’Alene Casino.

Presented By:

Game Times: 7 PM

Tickets: spokanechiefs.com

this city. Had you any education or culture you might have known that the library is host to numerous workshops, maker spaces and cultural events. There was a full-scale play held at the library in February, featured in The Inlander, no less. And those of us putting the work into these events actually want to serve the people you complain about. We want to exist in community. Had you any compassion, you’d realize the library is a public space which was not only an investment in city beautification but an investment in critical services our people need. Public and accessible warming space, access to internet and job applications, free period products, and more. ... I implore you to have some compassion for the people who experience a more impoverished life in this city than you do.

MAYBE WAIT YOUR TURN Jeers to the terrible lady wanting a very busy cashier to open tarot cards at Northtown bookstore. Did you not notice the three cashiers were 20 people deep? Then you tried to hide another tarot set on your left side before she cheerfully said she would hold it for you & you stormed out. I was shopping for a greeting card for my girlfriend & saw the whole thing. Wait your turn & don’t steal. Two things most of us learn at age 5.

NIC SICK PUPPIES The punchline to the old joke about why a dog does a certain disgusting thing — “Because it can” — accurately describes the lapping dawgs on the North Idaho College Board. The majority members take pleasure in obscene power plays, shamelessly stroking their egos. This week North Idaho has made the national news AGAIN with a New York Times article about the dismantling of NIC by the sick puppies in charge. Ah, for the days when

market. Why not annually tax us for the amount we originally spent on the house and hit us with capital gains when we go to sell?

Tax churches, too. They’re very political for tax-exempt entities. Fair is fair.

WOODWARD VS BROWN Lisa Brown threw in her hat to the Spokane mayor race. Brown, a qualified politician, already has a plan to fight homelessness and safety for Spokane, which she says has been stuck in neutral. Woodward’s response to homelessness was to ship them out of town. She wanted to close Camp Hope, without having a place for these people to go. There still aren’t enough shelter beds and mental health services for these people. Woodward blamed the courts and state politicians for tying her hands. The anger in her voice during her press conference was very noticeable. I’ve seen little done under Woodward, except blaming and lack of taking responsibility. Brown has a plan for how Spokane can succeed that doesn’t involve blaming others for things not getting down. She also knows that being mayor, it’s your responsibility to get the issues done, not to blame others for you failing to do the job you were elected to do. n

NOTE: I Saw You/Cheers & Jeers is for adults 18 or older. The Inlander reserves the right to edit or reject any posting at any time at its sole discretion and assumes no responsibility for the content.

PIGGY BANK GIVEAWAY

Sat. 3/11 vs Kelowna Rockets

First 2,000 fans through the gates receive a Chiefs piggy bank courtesy of Numerica Credit Union.

Presented By:

• Text or Call: 509-535-PUCK

“

It won’t cost you anything to genuinely compliment your fellow man...

EVENTS | CALENDAR BENEFIT

MUSICAL DESSERT SOCIAL & SILENT AUCTION This fundraiser for the Deer Park band and choir programs features a dessert social, a silent auction and performances from the jazz band, chorale choir and the steel pan band. March 10, 7-9 pm. $15-$20. Deer Park High School, 800 S. Weber Rd. dpsd.org

Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave. bluedoortheatre.com (509-747-7045)

GINGER BILLY Billy is a comedian from North Carolina who performs stand up about his rural community. March 10, 7:30 & 10:15 pm and March 11, 7 & 9:45 pm. $40-$50. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. spokanehomeshows.com

SPOKANE MOTORCYCLE SHOW & SALE

This three-day show and sale features new models, financing deals, a swap meet and vendors. March 10-12; Fri 3-8 pm, Sat 10 am-7 pm and Sun 10 am-4 pm. $12. Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. spokanemotorcycleshow.com (509-477-1766)

called contras. Sessions begin with a newcomer hour followed by a two-hour general dance. Proof of COVID-19 vaccinations required. First and third Wed of each month from 7:15-9:30 pm. $7-$10. Woman’s Club of Spokane, 1428 W. Ninth. spokanefolklore.org (509-838-2160)

philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete who stays with him and his former colleague. March 14, 7-9:30 pm. $7. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org (208-882-4127)

STIX DINNER & AUCTION

This annual event raises funds to continue offering camp experiences and community for children living with diabetes. March 11, 5:30-9:30 pm. $125. Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. spokanecenter.com (509-484-1366)

SWEETS BEFORE SUPPER GALA A gala hosted by the Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. This event honors women leaders in the community through the annual Women of Distinction award. March 11, 6-9 pm. $100. Davenport Grand Hotel, 333 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. gsewni.org

RED RIBBON GALA This annual event hosted by the Spokane AIDS Network includes a screening of the 95th Annual Academy Awards, a silent auction, a live auction and more entertainment throughout the night. March 12, 4-9 pm. $110. Highball A Modern Speakeasy, 100 N. Hayford Rd. sannw.org

SILENT AUCTION An afternoon of music, food, and a diverse array of old and new items from local artists including gift baskets, quilt, antiques, pottery and more. March 12, 1-3 pm. Free. Create Arts Center, 900 Fourth St., Newport. createarts. org (509-447-9277)

THE FIG TREE SPRING BREAKFAST

This online-only benefit celebrates the 50th anniversary of the organization’s resource directory with speeches by Malcom Haworth, Mary Stamp, Nicole Bishop and many more. March 15, 7:45-8:45 am. By donation. thefigtree.org

COMEDY

PHILLIP KOPCZYNSKI Kopczynski is an Eastern Washington native and has been performing standup and recording comedy albums locally for years. All ticket proceeds fund the Washington East Soccer Club. March 9, 7:30 pm. $15-$22. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998)

DETECTIVE DO RIGHTS This improvised show creates a mystery-solving case file based on audience suggestions for the Blue Door Players to crack. Fridays in March from 7:30-8:45 pm. $9. Blue Door

ZOLTAN KASZAS A Hungarian comedian best known for his Dry Bar Comedy Special “Cat Jokes” and his follow up special “Modern Male.” March 10, 7:30 & 10:15 pm and March 11, 7 & 9:45 pm. $22-$20. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998)

COMEDY AVALANCHE: AUGGIE SMITH

Auggie has appeared on Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing and can be heard regularly on the Bob and Tom Show. March 11, 8 pm. $25-$40. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. panida.org

SAFARI Blue Door’s version of “Whose Line,” a fast-paced improv show with a few twists and turns. Rated for mature audiences/ages 16+. Reservations recommended. Saturdays at 7:30 pm. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave. bluedoortheatre.com (509-747-7045)

SOPHIE BUDDLE The Canadian stand-up comedian is best known for her comedy album, A Lil Bit of Buddle. March 12, 7 pm. $10-$16. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

JEFF LEESON Leeson is an improvisational stand up comedian who’s been on Dry Bar and The Bob and Tom Show. March 14, 7:30 pm. $25-$35. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

COMMUNITY

DISCOVER YOUR IRISH & SCOTS-IRISH

ANCESTORS Join experts from the Ulster Historical Foundation to learn how to get the most out of resources when researching your Irish and Scots-Irish ancestors. March 9, 10 am-4 pm. $50. The Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center, 405 N. William St. ancestryireland.com/2023-coeur

ROLE-PLAYING GAME DROP IN Improve your RPG skills by watching and participating in games. Fridays from 4-8 pm and Saturdays from 1-5 pm. Free. RPG Community Center, 101 N. Stone Street. rpgcenter.org (509-608-7630)

SPOKANE HOME & GARDEN SHOW This annual show focuses on building, renovation, landscaping, design and home decor, with dozens of vendors and businesses. March 10-12; Fri 12-8 pm, Sat 10 am-7 pm and Sun 10 am-5 pm. $10-$12.

3RD LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT TOWN

HALL MEETING Legislators from the 3rd District provide a brief update on budget proposals and discuss legislation to address affordable housing, public safety, education, clean air and water, local jobs and infrastructure, health care and many more issues. March 11, 10:30 am-noon. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5336)

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE The 43rd parade hosted by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. Proceeds benefit area nonprofits. March 11, noon. Free. Downtown Spokane. friendlysonsofstpatrick.com

ST. PATRICK’S PARADE This 17th annual parade features local organizations and marching bands strolling down Sherman Ave. March 11, 3-4 pm. Free. Downtown Coeur d’Alen. cdadowntown.com

TEXAS HOLD ‘EM TOURNAMENT This event features an all-day tournament, three meals and a full, no-host bar. March 11, 10 am. $100. Southside Community Center, 3151 E. 27th Ave. southsidescc.org

TRACKS TO SUCCESS This event features representatives from the DDA and the DVR discussing how employment can impact disability benefits, what jobs are available, how much can be earned and more. March 11, 9 am-1 pm. Free. Skils’kin, 4004 E. Boone Ave. skils-kin.org

MUTINY & MURDER Gather at Sedlmayer’s for a night of food, drinks and murder, of course! Tickets include the mystery game, appetizers and a large grazing table. March 15, 12-9 pm. $49$59. Sedlmayer’s Resort, 7712 W. Spirit Lake Rd. crimesceneentertainment.com

SPOKANE AUDUBON SOCIETY This meeting’s program is “A Birder’s Guide to Understanding Bears.” Rich Beausoleil, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife statewide bear and cougar specialist, presents about black bears in Washington. March 15, 6:15-8 pm. Free.

The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. audubonspokane.org (509-444-5300)

SPOKANE FOLKLORE SOCIETY CON -

TRA DANCE Each dance features a local folk music band as well as a caller who teaches easy-to-learn folk-style dances

CAMPBELL HOUSE DARK HISTORY: SOCIETY SECRETS An after-hours tour of the Campbell House that sheds light on strange details and unconventional stories from turn of the century Spokane. Third Thursdays (March 16) at 6 pm. $3.50-$6. The MAC, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)

LEPRECHAUN GOLD Find one of 50 gold coins scattered throughout Riverfront Park and redeem it for a ride on the Looff Carrousel. March 17, 11 am-7 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.com (509-625-6600)

DROP IN & RPG Stop by and explore the world of role playing games. Build a shared narrative using cooperative problem solving, exploration, imagination and rich social interaction. Ages 5-105. First and Third Saturdays, 1-3:45 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org (509-279-0299)

SHAMROCKS & MURDER In the heart of Dublin, Paddy O’Brian’s Pub is hosting their annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Rumor has it, some guests are hiding things and others don’t get along for an assortment of reasons. March 18, 6-9 pm.

$29-$39. Crime Scene Entertainment, 2775 N. Howard St. crimesceneentertainment.com (208-369-3695)

OPEN HOUSE: WOMAN’S CLUB OF SPOKANE Two open house events feature performances, free dance classes, history lectures, vintage fashion displays and more. March 19, 2-4 pm and March 26, 2-4 pm. Free. Woman’s Club of Spokane, 1428 W. Ninth. thewomansclubofspokane.org (509-838-5667)

FILM

2023 OSCAR SHORTS Animation: March 9 at 7 pm and March 12 at 2:30 pm; documentary: March 10 at 7 pm; live action March 11 at 2:30 pm and March 12 at 6 pm. $8-$25. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. panida.org

EYES WIDE SHUT A Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife’s admission of unfulfilled longing. March 9, 7-10 pm. $7. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org

JERRY MAGUIRE When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new

FOOD & DRINK

KITCHEN COOKING CLASS: RAVIOLI Commellini Estate’s executive chef teaches participants how to create ravioli. Class culminates in a meal served family style inside the historic estate. March 9, 6:30 pm. $85. Commellini Estate, 14715 N. Dartford Dr. commellini.com

WINE TASTING Taste a selection of French wines. Reservations not required. Includes cheese and crackers. March 10, 3-6:30 pm. $10. Vino! A Wine Shop, 222 S. Washington St. vinowine.com

ST. PATRICK’S CELEBRATION Celebrate with green beer, DJs and the Irish Drinking Team. March 11, noon. Globe Bar & Kitchen, 204 N. Division. globespokane. com (509-443-4014)

IRISH TRADITIONS COOKING CLASS

Chef Allison demonstrates a quick and easy way to make corned beef while guests make colcannon and sausage rolls. March 11, 5 pm. $85. Wanderlust Delicato, 421 W. Main Ave. wanderlustdelicato.com (509-822-7087)

DRAG BRUNCH The cast of Runway performs while enjoying a full breakfast menu and mimosas. Hosted by Savannah SoReal. Sundays from 10 am-2 pm. Globe Bar & Kitchen, 204 N. Division. globespokane.com (509-443-4014)

HERITAGE ORCHARD CONFERENCE

This annual conference is organized into a series of monthly webinars about heritage tree fruits. March 15, 10-11:30 am and April 19, 10-11:30 am. Free. University of Idaho Extension-Sandpoint Organic Ag Center, 10881 N. Boyer Rd. uidaho.edu/ cals/soac

MUSIC

THE STORM IS PASSING OVER The WSU University Singers, WSU Treble Choir and WSU Concert Choir perform various choral selections. March 9, 7:30-9 pm. Free. Bryan Hall Theatre (WSU), 605 Veterans Way. music.wsu.edu/ (509-332-9600)

SPOKANE JAZZ ORCHESTRA The Spokane Jazz Orchestra performs selections by the Beatles featuring guest musician Todd DelGiudice. March 11, 7:30 pm. $27$32. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater.com

WIND CURRENTS The Whitworth Wind Symphony is joined by the wind ensembles from Shadle Park and Mt. Spokane High Schools in a concert of works for winds, brass and percussion. March 13, 7:30 pm. The Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. foxspokanetheater.org

SPIRIT OF SPOKANE CHORUS Sit in on the rehearsals of the Spirit of Spokane chorus. Tue from 6:30-9 pm. Free. Opportunity Presbyterian Church, 202 N. Pines Rd. spiritofspokanechorus.org

AMY GRANT Along with her roots in contemporary Christian music, Grant is an author, television host and public speaker. March 15, 7:30 pm. $49-$75. The Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. foxtheaterspokane.org (509-624-1200)

CELEBRATING OUR YOUNG ARTISTS

WINNERS National and international young artists perform world-class solo performances with the Coeur d’Alene Symphony. March 18, 7:30 pm. $10-$25. Schuler Performing Arts Center, 1000 W. Garden Ave. cdasymphony.org

HORNAPALOOZA A day of horn celebration featuring Chris Castellanos of the Boston Brass playing classical and jazz. Bring your horn to be part of the massed horn choir. March 18, 8:15 am-5 pm. $25-$30. Whitworth Cowles Auditorium, 300 W. Hawthorne Ave. whitworth.edu/music (509-777-3280)

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

STATE LAND FREE DAYS The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission invites visitors to enjoy a state park for free on select days each year. Visitors are not required to display the Discover Pass for day-use visits to a Washington state park or on lands managed by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) or Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) on these dates: March 9, March 19, April 22, June 10, June 11, June 19, Sept. 23, Oct. 10, Nov. 11 and Nov. 24. parks.wa.gov

SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. PORTLAND

WINTERHAWKS Promotional events include Coeur d’Alene Casino 30th Anniversary Celebration. March 10, 7:05 pm. $12-$30. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com

SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. KELOWNA ROCKETS Promotional events include the Numerica Piggy Bank Giveaway. March 11, 7:05 pm. $12-$30. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com (279-7000)

GET THE GIRLS OUT A national campaign to unite women and girls as they support, challenge, mentor and inspire each other in the outdoor sports world. Connect with other female athletes on the mountain all day. March 12, 9 am-3 pm. Free. Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park, 29500 N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. shejumps.org/get-the-girls-out

ST. PADDY’S FIVE A five-mile St. Patrick’s Day-themed road race. This race is a qualifier for second seeding in Bloomsday. March 12, 10 am-noon. $17-$20. Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene St. runsignup.com (5337000)

BIG HORN OUTDOOR ADVENTURE

SHOW This annual outdoors show boasts more than 300 vendors, guides and non-profit exhibitors, along with seminars, demonstrations and the most current information for outdoor

enthusiasts of every kind. March 16-19; Thu-Fri from 12-8 pm, Sat from 10 am-8 pm and Sun from 10 am-4 pm. Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. inwc.org/big-horn-show

THEATER

TWELFTH NIGHT A musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s classic story of love and mistaken identity. March 9, 5 pm, March 10, 7:30 pm and March 11,

7:30 pm. Eastern Washington University, 526 Fifth St. ewu.edu/cahss/fineperforming-arts/theatre/

THE IMAGINARY INVALID This version of the classic Molière comedy maintains an over-the-top farcical tone while retelling the original play with updated language in a 1960s setting. The play is centered on a hypochondriac obsessed with managing his imagined ailments.

Fri-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm through March 12. $8-$20. Hartung Theater, 625 Stadium Dr. uidaho.edu/theatre

JERSEY BOYS This behind-the-music story of four blue-collar kids who became one of the greatest successes in pop-music history. March 10-26, Wed-Sat at 7:30 pm and Sun at 2 pm. 2 $10-$35. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St. spokanecivictheatre.com

SEUSSICAL A musical comedy based on the plot of Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss and other various Seuss stories. March. 10-26, Fri at 7 pm, SatSun from at 2 pm. $12-$16. Spokane Children’s Theatre, 2727 N. Madelia. spokanechildrenstheatre.org

DEAR EVAN HANSEN The deeply personal and profoundly contemporary musical about life and the way we live it. March 14-19; Tue-Fri at 7:30 pm, Sat at 2 pm and 7:30 pm, Sun at 1 pm and 6:30 pm. $47.50-$95.50. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. broadwayspokane.com

VISUAL ARTS

TOM FROESE: ART BY THE RULES An exhibit of recent mixed media work featuring motifs of arches and lizards. March 3-31; viewings by appointment. Artist is present in the gallery Tue-Sat from 12-6 pm throughout the month. Free. Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, 115 S. Adams St. facebook.com/kolva-sullivangallery (509-458-5517)

ENTROPY This show features abstract pieces that hold a sense of connection, story and meaningfulness created by artists Seth Sexton, James Tingey, Tamera Abate and Pamela Caughey. Wed-Sun from 11 am-6 pm through March 28. Free. The Art Spirit Gallery, 415 Sherman. theartspiritgallery.com

LANDSCAPES REIMAGINED This exhibit features artworks by Roxanne Everett and Josh Hobson that explores the beauty of nature from a new perspective. Mon-Fri from 8 am-5 pm through March 31. Free. Chase Gallery, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. spokanearts.org

JESSE RE: INNER VISION The Spokane artist uses acrylic pouring as a base to create mixed media art incorporating epoxy, collaboration, collage, woodworking and more. Daily from 11 am-7 pm through March 26. Free. Liberty Building, 203 N. Washington St. spokanelibertybuilding.com

LILA SHAW GIRVIN: GIFT OF A MOMENT Living and working in Spokane

since 1958, Girvin has used vibrant color, form, and unassuming techniques with oil paint to explore new dimensions of feeling through ethereal, abstract paintings. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through March 12. $7-$12. The MAC, 2316 W. First. northwestmuseum.org

PLATEAU PICTORIAL BEADWORK: FRED L. MITCHELL COLLECTION During a lifetime collecting Plateau floral, geometric, and pictorial beadwork, Walla Walla resident Fred L. Mitchell has amassed the premier collection of this material. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through May 14. $7-$12. The MAC, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org

HEATHER BROWN Pottery Place Plus’s guest artist’s paintings are heavily influenced by impressionism and the natural beauty of the world. Daily from 11 am-7 pm through March 31. Free. Pottery Place Plus, 203 N. Washington St. potteryplaceplus.com (509-327-6920)

STAN MILLER: PORTRAITS & LANDSCAPES Miller shows an array of portraits and landscapes, including his iteration of “Salvator Mundi” by Leonardo da Vinci. Tue-Fri from 10 am-6 pm, Sun from 10 am-4 pm through April 30. Free. William Grant Gallery & Framing, 1188 W. Summit Pkwy. williamgrantgf. com/ (509-484-3535)

UBUHLE WOMEN: BEADWORK AND THE ART OF INDEPENDENCE This exhibition showcases a new form of bead art, the ndwango, developed by a community of women living and working together in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through April 30. $10-$15. The MAC, 2316 W. First. northwestmuseum.org

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH: THE FEMINIST EXPERIENCE This show, highlighting the feminist experience, coincides with the grand opening of the Spokane Art School’s expanded University District location. Mon-Fri from 10 am-5 pm through March 31. Free. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokaneartschool.net

UNRAVELED NARRATIVES This opening reception includes works by Jackie Goolsbey, Anna Boswell Abel and Chandra Paton, with live music by Willow Tree. March 10, 5-8 pm. Free. Emerge, 119 N. Second St., Coeur d’Alene. emergecda.com (208-930-1876)

DAN MCCANN & DUSTIN M. REGUL

This exhibition showcases works by McCann in ‘Seen and Unseen’ and works by Regul exploring the in-between of physical space and nostalgia. Fri-Sat from 12-8 pm through April 1. Free. Saranac Art Projects, 25 W. Main Ave. sapgallery.com (509-350-3574)

SECOND FRIDAY ARTWALK Stroll the streets of downtown Coeur d’Alene and enjoy locally- and nationally-acclaimed artists, along with local shops, restaurants and businesses. March 10, 5-8 pm. Free. artsandculturecda.org

KOINOBORI CARP WINDSOCKS Learn about Children’s Day in Japan and celebrate the growth and happiness of children by making a fish-shaped windsock streamer. All supplies provided. Ages 8-12. This event also takes place at other SCLD branches, see website for details. March 11, 3:30-4 pm. Free. Spokane Valley Library, 12004 E. Main. scld.org/events

SECOND SATURDAY AT CHRYSALIS

Featuring art by Sally Lancaster, Elaine Gerard, Chuck Harmon, Christopher Thomasson, Patsy Pinch and more. March 11, 12-5 pm. Free. Chrysalis Gal-

lery, 911 S. Monroe St. theartchrysalis.com (509-991-7275)

STAMPS IN CERAMICS In this twosession class, students build a mug with ceramic clay and then use rubber stamps to make an impression in the clay. March 11 and 18 from 1-3 pm. $75. Art Salvage Spokane, 1925 N. Ash St. artsalvagespokane.com

MARY ANNA POMONIS: SMOKE & MIRRORS This exhibition features paintings and sculptures associated with spirituality, geometric patterns and textiles in the tradition of Greece and Italy. Opening reception on Tues, March 14 at 12 pm also features a performance by artist Mary Anna Pomonis. Regular gallery hours: March 14-April 21, Mon-Fri from 9 am-6 pm. Mon.-9 am-6 pm through April 21. Free. EWU Gallery of Art, 140 Art Building. ewu.edu/ cahss (509-359-2494)

PI(E) DAY: Roll out some circular arts and crafts like yarn weaving, DIY sun catchers and more. We’ll also be giving out individually wrapped hand pies while supplies last. March 14, 5-7 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org

WORDS

CARING FOR OUR COMMON HOME

Cardinal Michael Czerny travels from Rome to speak on humanity’s ability to live in dignity. His work involves not only the science of climate change, but migration patterns, social services, global economics and more. March 9, 7-8:30 pm. Free. Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, 211 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga. edu (719-4645-555)

THE RETURN OF SALMON TO THE SPOKANE RIVER & BEYOND Representatives from the Upper Columbia United Tribes discuss recent efforts to reintroduce salmon into the blocked habitats of the Upper Columbia. March 9, 6-7:30 pm. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5358)

ERIKA BOLSTAD: WINDFALL Bolstad discusses her book about her great-grandmother Anna, a homesteader on the North Dakota prairies. March 10, 7 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com (509-838-0206)

BOOK SIGNING: JESS STEVEN

HUGHES The Spokane Valley author signs copies of his five historical novels from the Britannia Romanus series. March 11, 11 am-5 pm. Free. Barnes & Noble, 15310 E. Indiana Ave. barnesandnoble.com

ART HISTORY LECTURE: IMPRESSIONS OF MOTHERHOOD Dr. Meredith T. Shimizu examines Cassatt’s paintings and how they offer a subtle challenge to images of traditional motherhood. March 12, 2 pm. $10. The MAC, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)

BOOK READING & WRITING

WORKSHOP Author and artist Diane Sherman shares a bit about her writing process and the creation of her book, In Borrowed Shoes. March 12, 2-3:30 pm. Free. Wishing Tree Books, 1410 E. 11th Ave. wishingtreebookstore.com (509-315-9875)

JESSY HUMANN: I COULD BE A MILLION THINGS The author reads selections from her latest book, I Could Be A Million Things. March 12, 11 am-noon. Free. Auntie’s, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com n

By Kemuel DeMoville

Lookout Pass has always had the best powder—and this year there are 500 new acres of it. Our new Eagle Peak expansion means fresh terrain, 14 new runs, and a second quad chairli t. It’s an a ordable family and friends ski day that’s easy to reach via I-90.

Stash Scam

Claims of cannabis home delivery are bilking consumers out of their money

BY WILL MAUPIN

Cannabis delivery scams have been popping up around the country in recent months, including right here in Spokane.

According to the Better Business Bureau, these webbased scams offering home delivery first appeared earlier this year in New England. They advertise a simple purchase process in which an order is placed online or via text and payment is made through a digital wallet like CashApp or Zelle. No product is ever delivered, and because the transaction is made through a digital wallet, it’s almost impossible to get any money back.

Like others around the country, the scam here in Spokane is web-based.

Google “Cannabis delivery Spokane” and a website called Gocannabis Kush comes up. The website looks like any other cannabis retailer’s, with a full menu complete with product photos. Look a bit closer, however, and you might notice some red flags.

The products available? They’re all Californian brands. The phone number? An Illinois area code.

Call it and you’re taken to a Google Voice mailbox. You won’t get an answer, but you’ll get a text back right away. The scam artist will inquire about what you’d like to order. Ask them about the process, and they’ll make it sound as simple as can be. Push them on the legitimacy or

legality, though, and the conversation comes to an abrupt end.

That’s because in some states cannabis delivery is legal, but not here in Washington.

“It’s not legal in any way to deliver cannabis for commercial purposes,” says Brian Smith, spokesperson with the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Unfortunately, based upon Google reviews, people have already fallen victim to this scam, which has only been online since Jan. 8.

With everything from food and groceries to regulated products like alcohol available for delivery, it would be understandable to think the same is true for cannabis. Confusion around these rules has even led to legitimate dispensaries running afoul of regulations in the past.

In 2020, an UberEats-style service called Pelican Delivers tried to exploit a loophole in the law, but was shut down by the state after a few months.

Now, illegitimate actors are looking not to find loopholes in the law, but instead cash in by exploiting consumer confusion around these regulations. You don’t need to be a legal scholar to avoid falling victim to these scams, though. You just need to know one thing.

“Don’t spend any of your money on cannabis delivery,” says Smith. “It’s illegal.” n

FRAUD

NOTE TO READERS

Be aware of the differences in the law between Idaho and Washington. It is illegal to possess, sell or transport cannabis in the State of Idaho. Possessing up to an ounce is a misdemeanor and can get you a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine; more than three ounces is a felony that can carry a five-year sentence and fine of up to $10,000. Transporting marijuana across state lines, like from Washington into Idaho, is a felony under federal law.

GREEN ZONE

DAILY

BE AWARE: Marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older under Washington State law (e.g., RCW 69.50, RCW 69.51A, HB0001 Initiative 502 and Senate Bill 5052). State law does not preempt federal law; possessing, using, distributing and selling marijuana remains illegal under federal law. In Washington state, consuming marijuana in public, driving while under the influence of marijuana and transporting marijuana across state lines are all illegal. Marijuana has intoxicating effects; there may be health risks associated with its consumption, and it may be habitforming. It can also impair concentration, coordination and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. Keep out of reach of children. For more information, consult the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board at www.liq.wa.gov. Sun-Thur

WARNING: This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming. Cannabis can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. For use only by adults 21 and older. Keep out of the reach of children.

WARNING: This product has intoxicating e ects and may be habit forming. Cannabis can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. For use only by adults 21 and older. Keep out of the reach of children.

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ONISAWYOUS

“This Film Is Not Yet Rated”

32. Hard to handle, in a way

1. 5’4” and 6’2”: Abbr.

5. Spill the beans

9. Stacy who played Mike Hammer on TV

14. Song that might prompt a “Brava!”

15. Skye of “Say Anything …”

16. Ernest or Julio of wine fame

17. 500 sheets of paper

18. “No ____, no glory”

19. It has two hemispheres

20. “About that thing that went wrong on Apollo 13 ...”

23. Nice enough fellow

24. Special ____ (military activities)

25. 35mm camera type

26. Rage

28. “CrazySexyCool” trio

31. Movement founded by Tarana Burke

34. Actress Meyer of “Starship Troopers”

35. “Mon petit ____” (French endearment)

36. “About that honorific given to one’s superior male offspring ...”

39. Shawkat of “Arrested Development”

40. Cookie with a wasabi flavor in China

41. Steakhouse order

42. Exclamations of regret

43. Woody ____, bartender on “Cheers”

44. Tyronn who coached the Cleveland Cavaliers to an NBA title in 2016

45. Faux ____

46. Genre for Dire Straits and Steely Dan, facetiously

50. “About that theater production that explains how old the penny is ...”

54. Dagger’s partner

55. “Hmm ... I doubt that”

56. Name in a noted ‘90s breakup

57. Diwali celebrant

58. Tea brand with Wild Sweet Orange and Refresh Mint flavors

59. “Moi? Never!”

60. Fabulous writer?

61. Bird symbolizing grace

62. Meniscus location

DOWN

1. Brother of Groucho, Chico, Gummo and Zeppo

2. Origin of the word “alphabet”

ACROSS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 “PER”

3. Bit of pageant wear

4. 600 Home Run Club member

5. California state park south of Monterey

6. Replete (with)

7. Voting no

8. “Why you gotta ____ rude?”

(lyric from the 2014 Magic! hit

“Rude”)

9. Cold war mole

10. Some noblemen

11. Jai ____

12. Snippet from a film

13. Sweet pea

21. Qaanaaq dwelling

22. “Don’t Know Why” singer Jones

26. Played a high wind

27. “Do ____ others ... “

28. Bro of van Gogh

29. Mortgage, e.g.

30. It’s good for what ails you

31. Org. featured in the documentary

33. Baseball Hall of Famer Speaker

34. She helped Marlin find Nemo

35. Science fiction subgenre

37. Calf-roping loop

38. Assignment from a piano teacher

43. Kind of dancer

44. Coral reef enclosure

45. Madrid museum

46. “Hold Me Closer, Tony ____: And Other Misheard Lyrics” (2007 humor book)

47. Johnny who used to cry “Come on down!”

48. Social stratum

49. Hit 1986 Mr. Mister song named after a prayer

50. Ballerina’s bend

51. Forever, seemingly

52. “Fiddlesticks!”

53. Defrost

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Winning is just the beginning at Coeur d’Alene Casino!

It’s your BIG chance to win a share of $300,000 cash as we celebrate our 30TH anniversary! You could be one of three lucky winners to walk away with $10,000 cash or one of thirty winners of $1,000 cash each Friday in March.

Starting February 26TH , play your favorite video gaming machines with your Coeur Rewards card to earn entries. Receive one entry for every 500 points earned. Entries are earned fresh each week starting on the previous Saturday at 12 am. Entries earned for the current week’s drawing do not carry over to the following week’s drawing.